My Hero Academia: HeroiC Tale
by TheSib
Summary: What if U.A. had three hero classes instead of just two? The spotlight isn't on Class A or B anymore. It's Class 1-C's turn to take the spotlight, each of them with their own wacky traits. Enjoy their adventurers through U.A. as they work to become professional heroes. Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia, just my OCs. All rights go to their respective owners.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello readers. I'm here with a brand new story, this time in the My Hero Academia universe. I've been a fan of this anime for awhile and finally decided to do a fic for it. Those of you that have read my SAO fics may recognize a few of my OCs, as well as some from fellow writer Marcus Cersy AKA Ion Gree.**

**Now before I get started, I just want to explain a certain thing for this fic. As the summary explained, this story has three hero classes for U.A instead of just two. Of course, there are students from the anime/manga who are in that Class 1-C. they will not be in this one. For this story, all students from the canon classes C and below will be moved down one (i.e: all Class C students in the anime will be in Class D, D students in E, and so on and so forth). All students for this story's Class C are OCs.**

**With that out of the way, enjoy the story everybody.**

**Note: I do not own Marcus, Sarah, or Daiki. Those all go to Marcus Cersy AKA Ion Gree. **

"Alright mom, I'm off!"

"Ok sweetie! Good luck with your entrance exams!"

"Do your best, big bro!"

"You know I will, Clair." the boy said as he ran out the door made his way through the streets. Today was the day he had been anxiously awaiting for the past year. The entrance exams to get into U.A. High School.

The teen in question had brown hair and wore a white hoodie and blue pants. An excited grin was painted all over his face. U.A. was his dream school. Actually, that was probably true for almost every teen in Japan that dreamed of becoming a hero. In a society where 80% of the population had a superpower, or Quirk in modern terms, who wouldn't want to use their powers to become a hero.

Taking out his phone, he took a look at the time as he ran. '_Good. I should be early at this rate.'_ he thought. '_Although… it wouldn't hurt to take a bit of a shortcut.'_

Reaching out his hand, the teen made all of his arm with the exception of his hand turn into water. He stretched out his water-like arm and grabbed a pole in the distance. He then pulled himself towards it as his arm returned to normal. He then kicked off the pole and landed on the roof of a building, jumping and running along the rooftops towards U.A. High.

'_I'm gonna make sure I pass the entrance exam and get into U.A.'_ the teen told himself. '_This is gonna be a blast.'_

* * *

"You sure you have everything, dear?"

"Yes mom, I'm sure." a black haired girl replied back.

"Ok then. Good luck."

"Thanks." she called back as she ran out the house and made her way to U.A. High School. She smiled eagerly as she ran, her long black hair flowing with the breeze. Today, she would be taking the entrance exams for U.A.

The girl running had a lightweight violet coat on to protect herself from the bitter cold of the fall season. A pair of grey running shoes were on her feet, as well as a pair of white pants on her legs.

Looking up at the sky, she could see the sun shining brightly. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

'_A bright sunny day. Must be a good luck charm.'_ the girl thought as she ran. '_After all, what weather could be better for showing off my Quirk?'_

* * *

"Oh, look at you! All dressed up and ready to go for your entrance exams!"

An older woman with ashen gray hair hugged her son who returned the gesture in full. Though he drew the line when she began to nuzzle him. "Alright mom, that's enough. Snuggle me more and I'll be late."

The mother withdrew and settled for a soft pat on the head. "Oh alright, your father said he's sorry he could see you off but crime isn't going to fight itself. He said to give it your all, kiddo!"

The boy smiled brightly and turned around to the front door of the home. He waved goodbye to his mother and moved to leave, stopping for a quick second to look at a portrait of him alongside his parents. Feeling his mood heighten, he quickly left the house and looked to the street traffic that was piled up in front of his house outside his neighborhood.

'_Ugh… Damn villains making my trip harder than it needs to be.' _He knew that waiting for a bus would do him no good. The traffic would more than likely not be moving until the problem was taken care of.

Deciding that waiting wasn't going to happen, the boy ran down the street to an old abandoned house on the side of the street and looked both ways to make sure nobody was around. "It's not like anyone is gonna notice if I take something from an old place."

He walked to the driveway and saw sizeable chunks of concrete and asphalt all cracked up and willing to be used. Tapping his foot to the ground, the chunks began to float and circle around him. Seeing his Quirk work for him he gave a loud and victorious laugh. "These are my territory now! Let's make a bridge over this stupid traffic!"

He pointed a finger to the direction where the entrance exams were being held at the U.A. campus. The pieces of concrete and asphalt shaped around to a staircase that floated above where the traffic was blocking him off. With a jump, he landed on it and began running along the Quirk created object. As he ran, the materials quickly shifted from behind him to the front which made more stairs for him to walk on.

Traffic goers looked to the side of their windows to see some kid walking on a floating reforming staircase. Once he got out of view, they refocused their efforts on the traffic at hand. Such is the norm of Quirks nowadays but they sure were a sight to behold.

As the boy ran on his skyward staircase, one thought raced through his head over and over again. '_Time to show everyone what I'm made of! Look out world, a new superstar is coming up on the horizon!'_

* * *

A lone redheaded girl walked along the side of the street. She knew that leaving home early would give her the best chance of getting to U.A. on time but having to maneuver around the road was a bit of an unexpected delay. Her phone told her that some ruffian with a Quirk caused a traffic jam in her part of town which was an annoyance.

"But that's just life I guess." She sighed to herself while continuing to walk down the street. "If only there was some way to get there faster."

As she turned a corner to continue her commute, out of the side of the road a bus started to turn into the street. The girl felt a light bulb go off in her head as she quickly put a hood over her hair and waved for the bus to stop. "Yoohoo! Over here!"

The bus driver saw the girl waving to him and slowed down to the side of the road. He opened the door and shook his head at her. "I'm sorry little lady but I can't just go around picking up people outside of scheduled stops. The people on board need to get to where they're going quick."

"Oh, I won't be too much of a bother. I just need a ride to U.A. a couple of minutes down this street. Can't you help a girl out?"

The driver once again shook his head, clearly the cute approach wasn't going to work. "No means no little lady. Sorry. I need the money on the clock."

'_Hook, line and sinker.' _The girl inwardly snickered as she slowly brought something out for the driver to view. A shining crystalline ruby the size of a baseball. "Oh, if money's an issue then I assume this should be able to persuade you?" She could practically see his eyes bulge out of their sockets before he began to wave in her.

"Come on then! I'll take you wherever you need to go!"

Placing the gemstone in his hands, the girl just pointed down the street. "Just to U.A. please. Thank you~!"

In what should've taken her around twenty minutes to walk to, the girl found herself at the academy that was practically buzzing with would be students ready to take their exams. As the bus door opened, she turned around and gave the man a pat on his back. "Thanks again mister. Be seeing you!"

Waving the girl off, he closed the door and began pulling back into the main street. As traffic began to crawl in a stand still the driver decided to look again at the gemstone he acquired and placed in his pocket. But greeting him was not the shining gleam of a precious stone, rather it was an actual stone. A plain old boring rock that was found off the street.

The girl even in the loud crowd could practically hear the scream of despair from the driver she duped. She let her hood down allowing for her ruby red locks to flow to her back. '_Sorry buddy, but life is about equal exchange. Should've known better than to try for an easy way to make money.'_

* * *

"What's up, U.A. candidates?! Thanks, for tuning into me, your school D.J." a blonde male teacher spoke as he addressed the many students gathered for the orientation. "Come on, and lemme hear ya!"

The response he got was a deafening silence. Many that knew Present Mic's reputation knew he liked to speak loudly, but this was a bit much. With it being so early in the morning, very few had the energy to waste by cheering. Most were too focussed on passing U.A.'s infamously hard entrance exams.

"Keepin it mellow, huh? That's fine, I'll skip straight to the main show." Present Mic said. "Let's talk about how this practical exam is gonna go down, ok? Are you redaaaaaaaayy? Yeah!"

Once again, there was nothing but silence. Although some noticed one oddball mumbling to himself like an eager fanboy.

"Like your application said, today you boys and girls will be conducting mock battles in super hip urban settings." Present Mic explained. "Curve your loins here, my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle centers, sound good?"

Looking at the monitor behind him, the applying students saw seven areas, going from A to G. The teen wearing the white hoodie looked at his card. It read Battle Center D on it. '_They must be splitting us up so we can't cooperate with friends from the schools we each went to.'_ he thought.

"Ok, ok, let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely. Your goal in this trial is to use your Quirks to earn points by shredding these faux villains like a mid-song guitar solo. But check it, make sure you're keeping things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a U.A. no-no, ya dig?"

"Excuse me sir, but I have a question." one student said as he stood up. "On the printout, you've listed four types of villains, not three. With all respect, if this is an error on official U.A. materials, it is shameful. We are exemplary students. We expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do." He then turned around and pointed to the boy that had been mumbling earlier. "Additionally, you with the unkempt hair! You've been muttering this entire time. Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us."

"Sorry." the boy said as he held his head low embarrassingly.

'_Geez. A nervous idiot, and an uptight pain. Guess U.A. attracts all kinds of people.'_

"Alright, alright. Examinee number 711, thanks for calling in with your request." Present Mic said. "The fourth villain type is worth 0 points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten. But there's… kinda no point. I recommend my listeners ignore it and focus on the ones topping the charts."

"Thank you very much. Please, continue." the boy said as he gave a polite bow before sitting back down.

"That's all I got for you today. I'll sign off with a little present. A sample of our school motto." Present Mic said. "As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, a true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. Mhm, now that's a tasty sound byte. You ready to go beyond? Let's hear a Plus Ultra!"

With that, everyone was dismissed to the respective battle centers on their cards. They each got on separate busses that drove them to their locations.

* * *

Stepping off the bus in front of Battle Center D, the black haired girl whistled in awe at the gigantic area standing before them. Something like this must have cost a fortune to build. And there were six others just like it?

'_I guess this is what we should expect from U.A.'_

She looked at the others around her. She was thankful that no one from her old school had decided to enroll in U.A. Most would probably find that odd, but she didn't exactly have fond memories of junior high.

'_Ok forget about that school. You're going into high school now. That's all in the past.'_ she told herself. She looked at some of the other students around her. '_Maybe talking to someone else will ease my nerves.'_ She caught sight of a boy wearing a white hoodie and walked up to him. She reached out to tap him on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me?"

The second she touched his shoulder, the boy suddenly became encased in ice, frozen completely stiff. She jumped back in surprise, barely avoiding her hand getting frozen too. "Woah!"

The boy quickly returned to normal, turning around with his cheeks red. "Sorry about that. You kinda startled me is all."

"My bad." the girl said. "I didn't mean to scare you." she reached out her hand. "My name's Alicia Tsuki. What's yours?"

"Dan Hiryo." the boy responded. "Nice to meet you, Alicia."

"Likewise." she said. She looked back at the giant battle center standing before them. "You nervous?"

"A little." he admitted. "But I doubt it'll be too hard. I'm pretty good at using my Quirk."

"And your Quirk is… freezing yourself?"

Dan shook his head. "No. Well, it's more like an aspect of it." He showed her his hand and soon water came out from his skin and encased it. "I can use the water in my body by exterting it from my skin and manipulating it freely. I can also freeze it and use the hardened ice for a strong offense or defense."

"That's pretty versatile." Alicia said.

"What about you?" Dan asked. "What kind of Quirk do you have?"

"My body absorbs sunlight." Alicia explained. "I can then fire off that light like blasts of energy."

Dan looked up, seeing the sun shining brightly. "Well it's definitely the perfect weather for your Quirk."

"Yup!" Alicia grinned. "This is gonna be a breeze!"

"Heh, celebrate while you can. At the end of the day, I'll end up on top." another teen said.

Dan and Alicia both turned to see an ash-haired teen standing near them. He had a confident smirk on his face. He pointed to himself. "See this? You're looking at the future Number 1 Hero. Hyde Gekido. The one that will surpass even All Might."

"Setting your sights pretty high." Dan said. "But you should probably try passing this exam first before spouting about being on top, Hyde."

"He's right." another teen said, walking past Hyde. "It's usually the ones that talk the most that end up falling flat on their face."

"What'd you say?" Hyde growled. "Just who the heck are you anyway?"

"Marcus Cersy." the teen replied. He had black hair and blue eyes. His clothing consisted of a royal blue polo shirt with black pants and brown boots. He had leather gloves on his hands and a black belt with a W shaped buckle. Coming out from his rear was tail with a spike on the end.

"Well then Marcus Cersy, you'd best be ready for a showdown." Hyde said. "Let's see who can score higher, you or me."

"You're on." Marcus said with a smirk.

"Alright, this is starting to get interesting." Dan grinned. "Better bring my A game too."

"Alright, wannabe heroes! Better get moving!" Present Mic's voice spoke out to them as the doors opened up. "There are no countdowns in real life! Go! Go! Go!"

The second the doors opened, the group of examinees rushed in as fast as their legs would carry them. It was clear that it would be the fastest and most efficient that would win. Everyone was an enemy.

Dan looked around, trying to figure out the best strategy to use. As he ran and thought, he saw a small robot turn a corner, appearing before him.

"You're mine!" Dan grinned as he prepared to attack. Before he could do so however, a collection of rocks and metal circled around him, trapping him in a makeshift cage. "What the?!"

"Too slow!" Hyde said as he dashed past Dan and hurled a large chunk of earth at the robot, destroying it right away. "Hope you find it comfy in there. You can thank my Quirk for that."

"We were told we couldn't use Quirks on other examinees, you cheater!"

Hyde smirked as he waved his finger. "No. We were told we couldn't _attack_ the other examinees. And all I did was halt your movements. I haven't harmed one hair on your head." He waved and turned around. "Anyway, I got an exam to pass. See ya!"

Running down the street, Hyde chuckled to himself. This exam was a piece of cake. He could take out these robots easily and hinder others all while playing by the rules. Looking in the distance, he saw a robot with the number 3 on it. '_Aw yeah! A 3 pointer! Today's my lucky day!'_

As Hyde prepared to attack however, a sudden blur rushed past him. He widened his eyes when he recognized it as the teen he had just trapped.

"Too slow!" Dan called out, using Hyde's own words earlier against him. His right arm was encased with ice. Swinging it with all the force he could muster, Dan smashed the robot into scrap metal. "That's 3 points for me!"

"No fair! How'd you escape my cage?!"

Dan smirked as he looked at Hyde. "I can use the water in my body and freeze it into extremely durable ice with my Quirk. Breaking one of those bars and then squeezing through was nothing for me."

'_Damn. Of course he'd have an annoying Quirk like that.'_

"Anyhow, I got an exam to pass. Later." Dan said, waving goodbye before running off in search of other robots to destroy and earn points. Hyde growled in frustration before going off to do the same.

Elsewhere in the battle center, Alicia ran along the streets. As she came out of an alleyway, she noticed a large collection of robots gathered. Every single one of them fixed their gazes on her.

"Target acquired." they all said in unison before speeding towards the black haired girl.

Alicia smirked as she readied herself, taking her coat off and tossing it to the wind. '_I should have enough sunlight in my body for this.'_ Aiming both her hands out in front of her, Alicia readied to attack. Both her palms began to glow.

"Take this!" Alicia called out as a massive blast of light energy shot out from her palms. The blast hit the line of robots coming for her, causing several explosions simultaneously. When the attack was finished, all that was left were a collection of destroyed robots lying on the street.

"Phew." Alicia said as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. "That took more energy than I thought it would. But that should be at least a good twenty points or so."

Behind the black haired girl, a 1 point robot tried to get in a sneak attack. Little did it know however, that Alicia was more than aware it was there. She aimed her right index finger over her shoulder and fired a bullet of light at the robot, taking it out in one shot.

"Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on a girl?" Alicia said with a smirk before grabbing her coat and running off in search of more enemies.

One could hear the large commotion going on all over the battle center. Examinees were taking out robot after robot. No one could afford to wait for long, or else there would be none left.

"Only four minutes left, examinees!" Present Mic's voice called out to the examinees.

One girl among the examinees ran through the streets. Her red hair blew through the wind as she saw a group of robots in the distance. She had ran pretty far in, only attacking the robots that appeared before her.

'_Let the idiots fight over the scraps by the front. It just means plenty of enemies over here for me to take out and earn points.'_ she thought with a smirk. With no one else around, this group was hers for the taking.

"Let's see… what to use on you losers…" she thought. "Diamond would be a bit overkill. Let's go with iron."

The girl touched her hands to the gauntlets she had equipped. Within seconds, the gauntlets began to change, turning into hard iron.

"Time to send you to the scrap heap!" she grinned as she leaped in, punching straight through a robot. She did the same over and over again as more robots came at her. It took her little time to fill each of them with holes and have them fall over in front of her.

'_That oughta put me at thirty points. Maybe a bit more.'_ she thought to herself before continuing on. '_Get ready U.A. You've never met a girl like Lilina Yoake.'_

Elsewhere in the facility, a large collection of robot enemies were gathered in the farther corners from the entrance way. Most of the examinees had ignored them in search of close by targets. But of course, it was the perfect hunting spot for those who could traverse long distances easily. And Marcus was one such person, soaring through the air with a pair of wings on his back.

"They might as well accept me already." Marcus said with a grin. He swooped down from above before bringing his wings back into his body and trading them out for talon-like hands with scales covering his arms. With a swift slash, he tore through several robots lines up for him. Noticing an enemy, the rest of the robots went straight for him. But Marcus made short work of them with his close-range combat skills.

"Now then, where to head next?" Marcus wondered. Suddenly, he felt the ground shake around him. He struggled to hold his balance, wondering what was going on. Was it another person's Quirk? Or something else.

The answer soon came to him as a gigantic figure began to rise up from the ground. It's size had to be at least ten times that of the 3 point enemies Marcus had encountered. And from the looks of it, its defenses and power were probably amplified by that amount too. It didn't take Marcus long to figure out what was going on.

This was the 0 point enemy. And Present Mic had clearly not gone into enough detail when talking about its strength. Seeing it up close like this, Marcus knew the exact reaction to go with.

"Nope!" he said to himself as he took off running. "Nope, nope, nope, nope!"

* * *

The intimidating size of the 0 point enemy was making nearly all of the examinees run for the hills. Dan was one such examinee. He could handle the 1-3 point enemies with little issue. But against an enemy of that size, he knew he was out of his league by a country mile.

"Less than 2 minutes left, participants!" Present Mic shouted. "It's your last chance to rack up those points!"

'_Gotta get as much distance from this thing as possible.' _Dan thought. '_Maybe there's some stray enemies elsewhere. As long as it's not near this thing, I should be safe.'_

"Hey!" The sound of Hyde's voice caused Dan to turn around, seeing the teen looking up at the massive robot right near them. "Keep your eyes here, you dumb robot! This is the face of the guy that's gonna kick your ass to kingdom come!"

"The hell are you doing?!" Dan exclaimed, running over to Hyde. "You can't take that thing! Besides, it's worth 0 points!"

"Yeah, but it's a challenge." Hyde grinned. "And I never turn down a challenge."

"Hey!" Alicia shouted over to Dan and Hyde. "What are you two standing around for?! We've gotta run!"

"You pansies can run if you want. I'm staying." Hyde said. He slammed his hand onto the ground and a slab of rock came rising up from the ground at an angle towards the robot. It hit it, but broke apart on impact, barely leaving a scratch on the paintjob.

"Are you done?" Dan asked.

"Shut up! That was just me warming up!" Hyde yelled. He brought up several chunks of the road and tossed them at the robot. Each one of them shattered upon impact. "The hell?! What's this thing made out of?!"

"One crazy tough metal if I had to guess." a new voice said. The three teens turned and saw a red haired girl with a ponytail staring curiously at the robot. "Only tough part is probably the outer armor though. If I had to guess, the rest of it is pretty easy to destroy."

"Well that's great, but first someone would have to get through that armor." Alicia pointed out.

"What are you all doing?!" Marcus called out as he ran past Hyde and the others. "We need to move!"

"Geez, is everyone else here a complete coward?" Hyde asked. "If you wanna run be my guest. Some heroes you'll turn out to be."

"What the heck is wrong with you?! We can't beat that thing!" Marcus told him.

"We won't know unless we try." Hyde said. "After all, isn't it a heroes job to confront tough situations and come out on top? If we run now, then when will we stop?"

The teen's words hung in the minds of the others there. It was true. This was an incredibly tough enemy to tackle at their level of skill. But it was also true that each of them were here to become heroes. And not just average everyday heroes. They wanted to be the best.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you've got a point." Marcus admitted. He stood at Hyde's side. "I'll fight with you against this thing."

"I can probably soften that armor with my Quirk." Lilina said. "But it's gonna take some time."

"Then I'll work on distracting it." Alicia said. "I may not be able to do much damage, but I can at least get that thing's attention."

"You guys are all crazy." Dan sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "But what the hell? Hyde's speech has me fired up. Let's do this."

Lilina looked up at the robot's head. "It'll probably be easier for me to do my thing if I'm up top there."

"I can fly, but carrying people is out of the question without a strong gust of wind." Marcus said.

"I could probably get you there." Dan said. "But someone's gonna have to keep it's sight off us."

"Leave it to me." Alicia said. "You guys get moving."

Dan and Lilina looked at each other and gave a silent nod. They went down a side alleyway to try and approach without being seen. Meanwhile, Alicia held out her palms towards the giant robot.

"Take this! Sunny Machine Gun!" Alicia shouted. She unleashed a barrage of small rapid fire blasts of sunlight energy at the robot. It didn't make much of a dent, but it had gotten the robot to notice her as it looked down at her and the others.

* * *

From the monitoring room, Principal Nezu and several U.A teachers observed the examinees participating in the exam. In each of the battle centers, the 0 point enemy had appeared. In almost every case, the examinees were running for the hills.

"Now is where things get interesting." All Might said. "A person's true character is revealed when they're faced with danger."

"That's true." Midnight agreed. "But how many of them will realize the true purpose of the 0 point enemy?"

"It seems there is one group in Center D." Cemetos mentioned. "Looks like they actually have a plan too. They're not a bunch of foolhardy idiots at least."

"We'll have to wait and see for that." Midnight said. "Conviction is good and all, but do they have the power and skill to deal with that kind of opponent?"

"I think they just might." Nezu said, noticing Dan and Lilina on the rooftop of one of the buildings.

* * *

"Ok. This should be close enough." Dan said. "And it looks like it hasn't noticed us either."

"Yeah, so how exactly are we getting on its head?" Lilina asked. "You still haven't mentioned that part of your plan."

Dan smirked. "Just watch." As water expelled from his arm, Dan shot the water out in the shape of a long arm while the hand was frozen. He hooked it onto the robot in the distance. He then held out his free hand to Lilina. "You ready?"

Lilina smirked to herself. "And you said the rest of us were the crazy ones." She walked up to Dan and grabbed his hand with her own. The two of them ran together and jumped off the roof. As they did, Dan retracted the water back into his body, making the two of them go straight towards the head as if Dan's arm was a grappling hook.

"I wasn't able to get my hand all the way to the head." Dan said. "But it should be close enough. "Just get ready to grab something."

"Wait what do you mean- Woah!" Lilina gasped as they reached the spot where Dan's hand had been and the teen threw her upwards. She flew up, getting close to the head.

'_Warning me a little earlier would have been nice.'_ Lilina thought to herself. She reached out her arm as the head got close, managing to grab the edge just before she fell. She pulled herself up and found herself on top of the head.

"Ok. Now just gotta hope this works." Lilina told herself. She moved to the center of the head for better footing and placed her hand on the robot. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Let's see if we can change you to something a little weaker."

Down below on the street, Alicia and Hyde were busy launching long ranged attacks at the robot. But their repeated attacks were beginning to drain them. They didn't have much energy left.

"What's taking them so long?" Alicia asked.

"Don't know, but whatever that redhead is doing, she better do it fast." Hyde said.

Suddenly, they noticed the robot's weight shift slightly. It's movements were also slightly faster. And if it was faster, that meant it just got a lot lighter.

"I think she did it." Alicia said.

"It's about time." Hyde grinned. He looked up and saw Dan jumping off with Lilina, signalling that they were finished. "Now let's go to town on this thing."

"You made a platform rise up earlier, right?" Marcus asked. "Think you can do that again with me on it? Like a launch pad?"

Hyde smirked, reading Marcus's mind. "I like the way you think, Marcus."

The black haired teen stood at the ready. Hyde slammed his hand on the ground. Soon, a part of the ground Marcus was on shot up into the air. Hyde stopped it about halfway, but the momentum was more than enough for Marcus. He let his two white wings fly him to the robot's main body. Hardening his body with scales, he prepared to unleash a powerful attack.

"Take this!" Marcus shouted as he smashed right through the robot's body like a speeding comet. As he came out the other end, he glanced back and smirked at the hole he made. With the spot he had struck, the robot seemed to stop functioning and fell over. As its heavy body collapsed onto the ground, a timer echoed throughout the battle center.

"That's it! Time's up!" Present Mic shouted.

Marcus turned around and landed near Hyde and and Alicia just as Dan and Lilina were rejoining them. "Well we wasted a good amount of time dealing with that thing."

"True, but I'm pretty sure my score is good enough anyway." Alicia smirked. "I got a ton of points."

"Heh, well I'm positive my score was the highest." Hyde smirked proudly.

Dan rolled his eyes. "Of course you do."

As things stood, everyone would have to wait a week before getting their results. So parting ways and going home, they all waited on their results. That week had been a nervous wreck for all of the examinees, wondering if they had passed or not. U.A was the high school with the top hero course in Japan. It was the dream school for every person wanting to become a hero. So naturally the selection process was equally strict.

And finally, one week later, each of them received a letter from U.A. Nervously, they each opened it and were surprised to find a holographic message from none other than the top hero All Might. He mentioned he would be a teacher at U.A this coming semester, which was obviously a shock to everyone. But for Dan, Alicia, Hyde, Lilina, Marcus, and many others, he said the words that they had all been dying to hear the past week.

"Welcome to U.A., young hero."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey readers. I'm back with the second chapter of this story. This chapter and the next one will show off the students of Class 1-C. Hope you all enjoy them. Chapter 3 should be up within a few days, but after that I'm probably going to switch to a monthly update for this fic to give me time for my other stories.**

**With that out of the way, please enjoy the chapter.**

Standing by the entrance to U.A., Dan looked at the massive school. It was crazy to think about. He was finally a student at his dream school. U.A. High. It was the first step for many of the modern world's famous heroes.

Taking a deep breath, he walked forward. He still remembered how excited he had been when he finally heard he had gotten admitted to U.A. And to top it all off, All Might himself was going to be a teacher there. The top hero in all of Japan, in all of the world arguably.

Looking around, Dan noticed many other freshmen walking alongside him. There were also others that seemed well-acquainted with the school, most likely upperclassmen.

'_I wonder if anyone here is in my class.'_ Dan thought.

With a school as big as U.A., there was obviously a large main building. Luckily, a map was provided in the student handbook that all new students got. Dan looked at the map as he manuevered his way through the halls.

'_Ok, let's see here… My classroom is 1-C. It should be just down this hall.'_ Dan thought to himself.

"Hey Dan."

"Yikes!" At the sudden voice coming behind him, Dan's entire body froze stiff, being encased in ice.

Alicia rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry about that. Forgot you get spooked easy."

Dan's body returned to normal after a few seconds. He turned to see Alicia smiling at him. "Oh hey. You're that girl from the entrance exam. Alicia, right?"

"Yup. Alicia Tsuki, that's me." she said. "Looks like we both made it in."

"Seems that way." Dan said. "So what class are you in?"

"Class 1-C."

Dan blinked his eyes in surprise. "Wow, same as me."

"That's a pretty cool coincidence." Alicia smiled. "But at least we'll both be in a class where we know someone. Having a friend is always nice."

Dan nodded in agreement. The two of them walked down the hall to class together. "So do you think there'll be anyone else we know from the exam in our class?"

Before Alicia could even answer, a large explosion came from the door they were standing near. "GET THE HELL OUTTA MY WAY DEKU!"

Dan and Alicia checked to make sure another explosion wasn't about to follow before quickly dashing past the classroom and continuing to their destination.

"Well that was certainly an interesting class." Dan commented sarcastically.

"That's for sure. Good thing we're not in that one." Alicia agreed. The two of them soon came up to the room with the sign reading 1-C. "Hopefully our class isn't full of nutcases like that."

As the two of them were about to walk in, a large bash came as a figure flew out of the room, hitting the nearby wall hard. The person that fell groggily to the ground was a male with emerald eyes, and blonde hair combed neatly.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NO, DUMBASS?!" a female shout came from the room.

"Mi amour. I cannot believe my manly charms did not work." the male said weakly.

Peeking their heads in, Dan and Alicia saw the girl that had just punched the boy out of the room. She had short blue hair that fell down to her shoulders and curved at the end. Here eyes were also blue. Fins could be seen sticking out of her ears, forearms, and towards the bottom of her legs.

"Um... hello?" Dan greeted.

Taking a deep breath, the girl composed herself. "Hey there. Hope I didn't scare you too much there. I was just teaching that pervert there some manners."

"I simply asked if milady wanted to go out with me for some tea." the boy moaned.

"Yeah. Ten times. Clearly saying "No" wasn't getting the message through." she commented with a glare before turning her gaze back to Dan and Alicia. "Anyway, my name's Fiona. Fiona Mizune. Hope we can get along."

_'Well she seems normal enough.' _Alicia thought to herself. _'Maybe this class will be mostly normal after all.'_

"Make way, extras! Future top hero coming through!" a new voice spoke. Both Dan and Alicia watched as Hyde walked up and entered Class 1-C. "Don't worry, I'll sign autographs soon enough."

_'...On second thought, maybe not.' _Alicia thought with a sigh.

Walking inside, Dan and Alicia noticed a few other students besides Fiona and Hyde. There was a girl with curly pink hair and bright yellow eyes. Another was a violet haired male with glasses over his emerald green eyes. Dan even noticed a guy with a crocodile face. Though animal-like humans had been a semi-common Quirk type for a long time.

"Oh hey. I remember you two." a familiar voice spoke from behind the duo. Dan and Alicia turned to see Marcus standing before them. "Guess we're in the same class."

"Oh hey. You're the guy with the wyvern Quirk. Marcus, right?" Alicia asked.

Marcus nodded his head. "That's right. And you two are… Dan and Alicia, correct?" Both teens nodded their heads in confirmation. "Well it's good to see you again. We worked pretty well together in the entrance exam. Though I hope that nuisance with the earth raising Quirk isn't here. His personality was crap."

"What was that?!" Hyde yelled from his seat. "You wanna go a round with me, reptile breath?!"

"Hey! I take offense to that!" the boy with the croc head spoke.

"Zip it, croc face! This doesn't concern you!"

"U-Umm… could we all please try to get along?" the pink haired girl asked nervously. "We are all going to be classmates after all."

"Agreed! Truly mi amour is a woman of beauty and intelligence." the boy that Fiona had punched out of the room said suddenly. "What is your name, fair maiden?"

"Huh? It's… Sakura. Sakura Avalon." she said, a bit off put by the boy.

"Ah, Sakura. A name befitting such a girl like yourself."

A blush came to Sakura's face. "Wh-What?"

"Do I need to throw you out of the room again?" Fiona asked with a crack of her knuckles.

The threat from Fiona cause the boy to stiffen up. He quickly moved to a seat and sat down. Dan and Alicia took their seats as well, along with Marcus. One by one, more and more students began to arrive, filling up the seats in the room. Looking over by Marcus, Alicia noticed him conversing with two other students. They seemed pretty familiar with each other. She could only assume they had gone to the same junior high school. By the time the bell rang, all 20 seats were completely filled. Despite the fact that they were all wearing the same school uniform, it was clear that everyone was different in terms of personality in one way or another.

Soon after the bell rang, a new person entered the room. It was a woman in her late-twenties. She had short black hair with a hairpin in it that looked like a serpent. Her eyes were a piercing green. Judging by her age, the students could only assume this was their teacher.

'_Huh. I thought all the teachers at U.A. were big time heroes.'_ Dan thought. '_But I don't recognize her.'_

The woman sat on top of the desk up front and let out a sigh. "Alright you brats, listen and listen good. I'm your homeroom teacher, Sienna Yamagori. You will refer to me as Ms. Yamagori when you address me. I have one rule. Behave. Don't make my life hard and I won't make your life hard. Get it? Got it? Good."

The sudden and quick introduction made the students a little off-put by the teacher. They all glanced at each other, wondering what was up with her.

"Now then, we have orientation coming up soon." she said, looking at a list she had. "Oh right. Introductions. Better get this over with." She got up off her desk and walked to the side of the room. "Alright, come up one at a time and introduce yourself to the class. Make it snappy." She pointed over to the frontmost student on the right side of the room. "You. Croc face. Your first."

"Heh. Told you it was a good nickname." Hyde snickered quietly. Suddenly, he noticed the teacher look his way with her eyes flashing. Hyde suddenly found his body go stiff. "Wh-What the hell?"

"Kid with the smart mouth. Shut it. You're not special for pointing out the obvious." she said.

"Forget about that, why can't I move?!"

"That would be my Quirk." she said. "I lock eyes with someone, and I can paralyze them. Yours should wear off by the time it's your turn to go."

**[Sienna Yamagori. Quirk: Gorgon Eyes. If she makes eye contact with someone, she can paralyze them. The amount of time this paralysis lasts for decreases based on how many she has paralyzed in a set interval of time.]**

"Freakin psycho teacher…" Hyde muttered under his breath. Another look from Yamagori quickly shut him up though.

The kid with the crocodile features walked to the front of the class. "Ok then. Well my name's Shiro Cryki. As you can probably guess, my Quirk gives me these cool crocodile looks. But don't let it spook you. I like to consider myself a pretty friendly guy. Hope we can get-"

"Next." Yamagori interrupted.

Shiro was a bit stunned by suddenly being cut off, but went back to his seat, not wanting to get on the teacher's bad side like Hyde had. As he sat down, the person behind him came up. This one was a girl with silver hair styled in two curly ponytails.

"Hey, what's up? My name's Jill Suzuki." the girl said, introducing herself with a smile. "I'm a fun loving girl, so I hope we all have a good time together."

Jill left it at that and went back to her seat. It was clear after Shiro's turn that their teacher was not a patient one, so they decided to keep it short for now. The next student was a male student with black hair. Along his arms were a pair of wings.

"I'm Satoshi Shinito." he said. "I'm a bit of a fan when it comes to history. Hope we get along."

As Satoshi was walking back to his seat, Hyde finally felt the paralysis wear off. He went over and stood in front of the class. "My name's Hyde Gekido. Make sure to remember it, cause I'm gonna become the number one hero someday and surpass even All Might."

Yamagori rolled her eyes. '_Yeah, keep dreaming kid.' _she thought silently.

As Hyde went back to his seat, a girl with red hair styled in a ponytail came up. Dan and the others recognized her as the one from the entrance exam that had weakened the zero point villain. "Name's Lilina Yoake. Just to let you all know, I'm a pretty good saleswoman. You want something? I can get it."

After Lilina, a blonde girl walked up. It was easy to guess what her quirk was from the cat ears she had, as well as the tail coming out from behind her. "I'm Hikari Akabane. "I know I may look cute and innocent, but make sure not to try anything funny with me. Cats have claws after all."

The next one up was the boy Fiona had knocked out earlier. He brought out a rose and looked at the class in an overdramatic way, as if he was prince charming from a kids movie. "I am Merci Boqu. My home country is France, but I came to Japan to enroll in U.A due to it's elite reputation." he said. "And please madmosels, try to control yourselves in front of me."

Nearly everyone in the class rolled their eyes at Merci. It was clear this guy wasn't going to realize what the girls were thinking of him anytime soon. After Merci, a boy with teal blue hair and green eyes walked up. "My name is Daiki Izumi. If you ever need help with planning, leave it to me. I consider myself a calculating person."

Up next was a girl that seemed rather short compared to the others, reaching only about four feet tall. She had black hair that fell down most of her body. Her bangs covered her eyes, but it didn't cover the creepy smile she had on her face. "I'm Rekka Majo. I hope we can be friends and have lots of fun playing together." she said before going back to her seat. Nearly everyone in the class could see she was an oddball. And a creepy one at that.

When Rekka went to sit down, a blonde girl got up and went to the front of the class. She had purple eyes. "My name is Sarah Radcliffe. And I'm not a big fan of people who go boasting that they're amazing. Unless they have the skill to back up their claim." She eyed Hyde as she said this, only receiving a smug grin from the teen in response.

One by one, the rest of the class went up and introduced themselves. Dan, Alicia, and Marcus each got their turn, as did everyone else. Once they were done, it was time for orientation. Ms. Yamagori led her class along as they went to the auditorium.

* * *

"Students, I welcome you all to U.A." Nezu said. For those that had not seen the principal of U.A. in person, it was an odd sight. He was barely three feet tall, probably shorter upon closer inspection. His appearance resembled that of a small animal, though what kind was anyone's guess. He had white fur and a scar over one eye.

"He's so _cute_!" Jill said in a hushed squeal.

"Many of you have come here with different goals in mind." Nezu spoke to the freshmen. "Right now, each of you are fledglings, wanting to make your mark on the world. And while here at U.A., you will grow. Some of you will train to be heroes. Others will be in the support courses, working to help heroes in the best way they can. And of course, we have those in our General Studies too. But no matter where you are, by the end you will all be fully grown and ready to take flight into the world."

As the students listened attentively to the principal's speech, the teachers all stood at the side. Sienna let out a yawn, covering her mouth with her hand. "Does he have to make his speeches so boring and cliche?"

"You should keep quiet and pay attention, Yamarogi." Vlad King, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-B told her. "Right now, you're lucky to even be here."

"Yeah, yeah." she said. "Look, I didn't ask Nezu to do me this favor. He just came out of the blue and asked me."

"And where would you be right now if he hadn't?" Vlad asked her. Yamagori fell silent, having no answer, or at least none she felt like saying aloud. "I don't know what Principal Nezu was thinking when he hired you. But since you're a teacher here now, you'd best make sure to do your job."

"Whatever. You're not my boss." she said. "I'll do my job, so just don't go annoying me. If you're gonna nag someone, go nag Aizawa. His class isn't even here."

"Aizawa's never been one for traditions like this." Vlad told her. "He may not be perfect, but at least he does his job."

Yamagori groaned as she rolled her eyes. These heroes had an answer for everything.

* * *

After orientation, the day went on as normal. Before long, it was finally lunchtime. Class 1-C gathered in the cafeteria, enjoying the food served for the school.

"Man, the food Lunch Rush serves is delicious!" Shiro said as he scoffed down his food.

Sakura slid to the side a bit, not enjoying being so close to the fast, and rather sloppy, eater. "Shiro… could you please try and slow down a little? And chew with your mouth closed?"

Over at one end of the table, Dan and Alicia were busy chatting with Marcus, Sarah and Daiki. Dan and Alicia were surprised to find out an interesting fact about the trio. "You all went to junior high together?"

"That's right." Sarah nodded. "We've been good friends since junior high. We all applied to U.A. together. And out of everyone in our school, we're the only ones that got in."

"That's impressive." Alicia said. "I'm the only one in my school that got accepted."

"So what kind of Quirks do you have?" Dan asked. "I know Marcus has that wyvern transformation one."

"Yeah. He told me he took down that zero point villain from the practical exam with your help." Sarah said. "As for me, my Quirk allows me to teleport. I have to be able to see where it is I'm teleporting to though, so it doesn't work for super long distances."

"That's cool." Alicia said. She turned to Daiki. "And you?"

"I can turn my body into electricity." Daiki said. "Increases my speed and maneuverability. I can also go into electric currents and move with them."

"What about the two of you?" Sarah asked.

Dan held up his hand and had water surround it, showing off his Quirk. "I use the water in my body, reshaping or freezing it. I can also manipulate any outside water or ice I'm touching."

Alicia went next. "I can store sunlight in my body, and fire it off like energy blasts."

"That's a pretty cool Quirk." Sarah noted. "I'm guessing both of you must be skilled to have taken down the giant zero point villain. Even if you needed help."

"Well if we're being honest, Hyde was the first to spring into action." Dan admitted. "We just went along with the moment."

Sarah glanced down at Hyde at the other end of the table. "Interesting. Maybe he is worth watching after all."

"Come again?"

"Sarah's not the type to go out of her way and make friends." Marcus explained. "She really only cares about people who impress her."

"This is the top hero institution in Japan. We are not here to make friends with every person we meet." Sarah told him. "That said, having people you can trust is important."

"I see…" Dan said. "And where exactly do me and Alicia fit in on your scale?"

"Considering Marcus spoke well of you, I believe you are both worthy of my respect." Sarah said. "Though I will have to see you in action before I can make a final judgement."

"Both your Quirks are rather interesting." Daiki said. "I'm interested to see how they can best be used." He looked at Dan. "Though I don't see the two of use being very compatible."

Dan couldn't deny that. Electricity and water did not mix well. Daiki would have to focus too much on restraining himself if the two of them fought side by side.

The continued sound of Shiro stuffing his face caught the attention of them as they glanced over at the crocodile faced student. "He sure is a glutton, isn't he?" Marcus commented.

Sakura tried to enjoy her meal, but Shiro's antics were beginning to annoy her. "Shiro could you please-" The pink haired girl was cut off as some of the sauce from Shiro's meal splashed into her, leaving a small amount on her cheek and covering her salad.

"Oh man, I could get used to this kinda grub." Shiro said. "What should I get tomor-"

"HEY! LISTEN TO ME YOU IMBECILE!" the sudden shout from Sakura silenced not only Shiro, but every member of Class 1-C at the table. Even a few students from other classes were watching the scene unfold. Everyone felt nervous sweats go down their back when they saw the enraged look in Sakura's eyes. She glared daggers at Shiro. "SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO EAT, AND YOUR SLOBBERING IS RUINING OUR MEALS! CHEW WITH YOUR MOUTH CLOSED! AND ON TOP OF THAT, YOU SHOULD BE EATING A HEALTHIER MEAL! IS MEAT THE ONLY THING YOU EVER SHOVE INTO THAT MOUTH OF YOURS?!"

It was hard to tell, but it almost seemed like Shiro was shrinking in size as Sakura scolded him. It was hard to believe the shy girl they had seen earlier was now laying into Shiro so harshly.

* * *

Once lunch was finished, classes continued on. The class's opinion of Ms. Yamagori was not improving in the slightest, but there was little they could do about it. When the final bell rang, everyone left the room and began making their way home.

Dan and Alicia had decided to walk to the train station together. They had hit it off pretty well as friends. But they couldn't help but notice the rather large crocodile trying futilely to hide behind them.

"What are you doing?" Dan asked, turning and looking at Shiro.

"Shh! Not so loud!" Shiro said. "I'm trying to avoid that Sakura girl. I don't want to get another lecture from her."

"She did lay into you pretty hard at lunch." Alicia said.

"Hey!"

The shout caused the trio to turn and see a bunch of the girls from Class 1-C coming their way. Shiro took notice of the fact that Sakura was with them.

"Aiiiyyyeeeeee!" Shiro screamed as he took off running out of the school gate, leaving a dust cloud in his wake.

As the girls came up to Dan and Alicia, Jill looked over at the running Shiro in the distance. "What's with him?"

"Who knows." Dan shrugged.

"Well anyway, we were hoping to talk to Alicia." Jill said.

"Huh? Me?" Alicia asked.

"Yeah. We were thinking of all us girls hanging out together to get to know each other better." another one of the girls from class said. This one had bright pink hair that went down to about shoulder length. A pair of shimmering yellow wings, about as thick as those on a fly, could be seen coming out of her back. If they recalled correctly, her name was Vivi Pixi.

"A hang out?"

"Yeah." Jill nodded. "We can go get something to eat, do some shopping, hang out until night-"

The sudden mention of night cause Alicia to stiffen. "Ummm… sorry, but I can't. Maybe another time."

"Huh? Ok, I guess that's ok." Jill said.

"Sorry, I gotta go." Alicia said as she took off running out of the school gate.

"That was certainly odd." Jill said, rubbing the back of her head. She and the girls all glanced at Dan.

Dan felt himself shrink at the collective stares of the girls. "Wh-What?"

"We just want to know what the story is between you and Alicia." Jill said with a grin.

"Story?" Dan asked. His cheeks blushed when he realized what they were implying. "O-Oh, no no no, you've got it wrong. We just met at the entrance exam. We're friends, that's it."

"Mhm. Suuuuurrre." Jill said.

"Look, there's nothing going on. I'm serious." Dan told her.

"Well alright. We'll let it go." Jill said. "For now."

"I'm actually rather interested in this." Lilina said. "Oh and I know the best place we can go later girls. The prices there are the best."

"There she is!" a sudden shout came. The group from Class 1-C saw several students pointing their way. "There's the red head that scammed us!"

A sudden nervous sweat went down the back of Lilina's neck. "Oh would you look at the time. See you later, gotta go, bye!" With that, Lilina took of running out the school gate.

"After her!" the group of students yelled as they chased after Lilina.

As the angry mob ran out the school gate in pursuit of Lilina, Dan and the other girls watched with mild interest. "I guess U.A. really does attract all kinds." Dan said.

* * *

Sienna Yamagori walked through the halls of the school. Finally she came up to the principal's office. She knocked on the door. "Yo, Nezu. It's me."

"Come in." Nezu's voice said from the other side.

Yamagori opened the door and walked inside. She came up to Nezu's desk and took a seat.

"So how are you enjoying your first day as a teacher?" Nezu asked.

"Oh it's just so lovely! My students are all such little darlings!" she said with an overly dramatic smile. Her expression quickly turned into a scowl. "That was what you were hoping for me to say, right?"

"Honesty I would be quite shocked if your demeanor changed in just one day." Nezu said. "That said, you haven't quit yet either."

"Well this may be stupid, but it beats jail." Yamagori said.

Nezu sighed and shook his head. "What happened to you Sienna? You had such a bright future ahead of you when you graduated U.A."

"Being a hero wasn't working out. I didn't get much money, worked my ass off, and nobody paid attention to me." she said with a huff.

"Nobody becomes famous overnight." Nezu said. "I know you struggled. But to participate in a robbery?"

"It was a one time thing. I needed the cash." Yamagori told him. "And I never asked you to bail me out."

"Yes, but I did give you the choice." Nezu said. "I took a big risk offering you a teaching position here for the year, and making it part of your rehabilitation. But I did it because I believed it would teach you something."

"And what is that?" she asked with a roll of her eyes.

"That's something you'll have to find out yourself." Nezu said. "I believe the best lessons are learned that way."

"Ugh, you're such a pain." Yamagori groaned. "Look Nezu, I agreed to take this job. But you never said I had to act like I cared about my class. Just help them get through the year."

"And what do you think of your class so far?" Nezu asked.

"They're a bunch of overly optimistic idiots."

"Much like how you were when you were a student?"

She let out a huff. "Yeah. And when they go out into the real world, they'll understand how harsh it is too." She got out of her seat and turned to walk out of the room. "Anyway, I've got other things I need to do. Later."

Nezu watched as Yamagori left the room and closed the door. He sighed to himself. "I sincerely hope you learn what I'm trying to teach you Sienna. For both our sakes."

* * *

_**-The next day-**_

U.A.'s structure was pretty routine. Morning classes consisted of the customary classes for any high school. English. Math. History. For those in the hero course, it was frankly pretty boring. But once the afternoon rolled around, it was time for the far more important classes to the students. Hero Basic Training.

Ms. Yamagori sat at her desk, looking as interested as always. "Alright so today we'll be doing battle training. The teacher assisting you with this will be-"

"I AM HERE!"

As the sudden shout was heard, the door opened and All Might burst into the room. A majority of Class 1-C looked on in awe at the number one hero being right before their eyes.

"Holy cow, it really is All Might!"

"I can't believe it's him!"

"He looks so much cooler in person!"

All Might let out a hearty laugh. "It's good to see so many bright young faces. Now then, as I'm sure Ms. Yamagori explained to you, today you'll be performing in mock battles."

"I _was_ about to explain. But a certain loud mouth interrupted me." Yamagori scowled. She got up from her seat. "Anyway, they're all yours All Might. Later."

"Hang on, Miss Yamagori. Aren't you interested in watching your class in action?" All Might asked.

"Not really." she said, walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.

An awkward silence filled the room from Yamagori's abrupt exit. All Might coughed into his hand to try and cut the tension. "Alright then. Students! As I'm sure you know, one of the keys to being a hero is… looking good!" As if on cue, several containers emerged from the side wall. "These are your costumes! They were designed based on your Quirk Registration Forms, and the request you sent in before school started!"

It was easy to see how excited each of the students were. Each of them had put a lot of thought into their costume design. Anyone who dreamed of being a hero would also want their own cool-looking costume.

"Now then, get yourselves suited up, and then meet me at Training Ground Beta." All Might said. "I look forward to seeing what you can do, future heroes."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here it is readers. Time for a look at the Quirks of Class 1-C. Enjoy. Also, like I said last chapter, I'm going to be going for a monthly update for this fic from here on so I have time to work on other stories.**

All Might stood on the grounds of Training Ground Beta. He had done this exercise already with Class 1-A. Everything had proceeded along smoothly, with the exception of the fight between Midoriya and Bakugo getting a little out of hand. He could only hope that things would be better with Class 1-C.

'_Ah, here they are now.'_ All Might noticed as he saw the class walk out. Each of them were dressed in hero costumes designed specifically for them. In some cases, the purpose was appearance. For others, they included special gear that assisted with their Quirk. However, there was no denying that each f them were unique in their own ways.

The suit Dan Hiryo had on was white for his main body, and blue for his arms and legs. Small slit openings could be seen by the shoulders, wrists, and upper thighs, designed so he could use his water or ice outside of his suit with ease. A lightweight tank of water was on his back, with tubes connecting it to his back.

Alicia's suit was rather simple compared to some of the others. It was skin tight and split into two colors, violet on her left and a whitish silver on her right. A dark violet hood was also hanging behind her neck. With her Quirk being what it was, there wasn't much in terms of support items that could help her. However, the suit was made of a special material that could absorb sunlight and transfer it to her skin, making it easier for her to recharge her sunlight supply.

Hyde's outfit was nothing if not eye catching. He had on a black form fitting shirt that had a white cape connected to it that wrapped around his his upper chest. A black pair of slacks that connected themselves to a pair of gold colored shoes with blue decorations that came with a golden waist armor that was shaped in a V and had side guards connected to the hip area. Tying the outfit all together were a pair of gold colored metal gauntlets that came to his elbows.

Lilina went with a stylish gold and crimson outfit that did well to show off her curves. A pair on metal gauntlets were on her forearms, while her boots seemed to be made of a hard metal. She also had a belt around her waist with several pouches around it.

Marcus's suit was a royal blue trench coat that he left opened. Underneath it was a black bodysuit with the letter W in the center. He also had deep blue sleek and streamlined boots on.

Sarah's costume was a full bodysuit that was a mix of white and purple. At her waist was a black skirt. A black visor was worn over her eyes.

Daiki had on a black leather jacket with a hood, a yellow t-shirt, and black cargo pants. On his feet were a pair of black boots, while black welding goggles covered his eyes. There was a special harness on as well, though it was difficult to tell what its purpose was.

All 20 students of Class 1-C each wore different costumes. And each of them were excited to finally start hero training after going through regular classes all morning.

"Very nice. You all look extra cool." All Might said with a thumbs up. "Now then, shall we get started, newbies?"

"Aw yeah, bring it on!" Hyde grinned excitedly as he cracked his knuckles. "Who do we get to fight? More robots?"

"I appreciate your enthusiasm young Hyde, but please be patient as I explain." All Might said. "Most villain fights you see on the news take place outside. However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the most dastardly villains take place indoors. Backroom deals. Home invasions. Secret underground lairs. The truly intelligent criminals stay in the shadows. For this training exercise, you be split into teams of 2. One side will play good guys and the other side will play bad guys, one team fighting the other at a time."

"So all we have to do is knock the other team out?" Daiki questioned.

"Close, but not quite." All Might said. "Not everything comes to a head on fight you know. The situation will be as such. The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes will try to foil their plans. To do that, the heroes will either have to catch the evildoers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the bad guys succeed if they either protect their payload or capture the heroes."

"Kinda like some sort of action movie." Marcus noted.

"Now then, we'll be forming teams by drawing lots." All Might explained, bringing out a box.

'_So our partners will be completely random.'_ Dan realized. '_Depending on who we get paired up with, it could be tough to work together.'_

"Alright then! Let's draw!" All Might shouted out energetically.

One by one, each of the students came up and drew lots. With 20 of them and teams consisting of two people each, there would be ten teams in total.

Team A consisted of Sakura and another girl named Melody Fukuyame. Melody had brunette hair tied up in a ponytail and bright blue eyes. Hanging from her ears were a pair of earrings in the shape of musical notes. Her hero suit was a pretty shade of red and black, with a headset on her head that came with a microphone speaker, as if she was an idol singing on stage. Sakura's costume was a beautiful pink and white. She had headgear on that came equipped with a full face plastic visor.

Team B was made up of Fiona and a boy named Kenji Shinobunta. It was clear to everyone from the start of day 1 that Kenji was the silent type, wearing a ninja-like mask on the lower half of his face. His hero suit reflected on that demeanor, his dark black outfit making him look just like a ninja. Fiona's outfit was mostly blue with a bit of white here and there. There were openings for her fins on her arms and legs. It was skin tight, and looked like something a swimmer would wear.

Team C was Dan and Alicia. The pair was happy to be together for this training, already having a good view of each other's Quirks and personalities. Hyde also ended up with a student who he was already acquainted with from the entrance exam, Lilina. The two of them made up Team D.

Merci Boqu had been hoping to get paired up with one of the beautiful girls in the class. But instead Team E was him and Shiro Cryki. Shiro's costume was rather simple, consisting of a pair of brown pants and a simple white t-shirt on his upper body. Merci's on the other hand was far more extravagant, providing a red visor and a fancy-looking white suit with several pockets on it.

Team F was the duo of Vivi Pixi, and a fellow female student named Nene Fukasa. Nene had short black hair, and her costume was fairly simple, consisting of a grey color for the base. Blue gloves were on her hands. Viv's costume had openings for her wings to come out from. It was a pretty yellow-green, making her look like a fairy princess from a kids movie.

Next up was Team G, Hikari Akabane and Marcus Cersy. Hikari's costume was skin tight and pink, leaving an opening for her tail. Yellow fur was on her shoulders and around her waist to further show off her cat-like features. Gloves were on her hands, but her long claws had room to reach out. While he didn't have Sarah or Daiki as partners, the two of them had ended up as partners, making up Team H.

Team I was Satoshi Shinito and Rekka Majo. Satoshi's suit was sleeveless, giving his two long wing-like arms plenty of breathing room. It seemed very tight and aerodynamic, most likely to give his Quirk its full advantage in terms of flight. Rekka's suit made her look like a witch almost, with a black robe and hood. It served to up the creepiness factor she had going for her.

Lastly was Team J, Shinobu Reikon and Jill Suzuki. Shinobu's violet hair matched his violet trench coat he had for a costume. He kept his dignified aura around him, though it also came off as a little cocky. It was clear Jill had the exact opposite personality. Her costume was a pair of loose red pants and a shirt going up from her waist that stretched up just enough to cover most of her large chest.

"Now then, let's find out the pairings for the first battle!" All Might said enthusiastically. He reached into two boxes and pulled out a pair of balls with letters on them. "Team C will be playing the heroes and Team B will be playing the villains!"

Both teams glanced at each other. It would be a battle between Dan and Alicia against Fiona and Kenji. It was clear that Fiona's Quirk had something to do with her fins, meaning she probably couldn't use it well without water. Kenji on the other hand was a complete mystery.

'_They can tell that my Quirk deals with water based on my suit. But Alicia's should be a complete mystery to them.'_ Dan thought. '_We're fighting on equal ground.'_

"Now then, both teams to your positions!"

* * *

Dan and Alicia stood in front of the building acting as the battleground for the training exercise. The villain team were being given 5 minutes to set up. Once that time was over, it would be Dan and Alicia's chance to spring into action.

"So how should we go about this?" Alicia wondered. "I mean, we really don't know the full extent of either of their Quirks."

"True but the opposite is also true." Dan mentioned. "If I had to guess, Fiona will target me to try and swipe the water tank in my costume. It won't hinder me too much, but there's a good chance it'll definitely help her." He looked at Alicia. "Speaking of which, will your Quirk be alright indoors?"

Alicia nodded her head. "Yeah, don't worry. Like I said, my body stores sunlight naturally. I don't have to be exposed to sunlight to fire off blasts, as long as I have some stored in me. And since I haven't used my Quirk at all today, I should be at max capacity."

"Alright. Good to know." Dan said.

"Teams C and B, your time begins now!" All Might called out from the loudspeaker.

Dan and Alicia silently nodded at each other and began their mission. Going through the front would be a dumb move, so Dan pointed to an open window. He brought out water around his arm and stretched it out to reach up and grab the opening. He put an arm around Alicia's waist as he pulled them both up to it. Having the black haired girl so close to him made him blush slightly, but he did his best to hide it.

"Alright, we're in." Alicia said as she and Dan climbed in through the window. "Now we need to find that weapon."

Dan and Alicia ran through the narrow halls of the building, making sure to be cautious and sneaky. They did their best to move as quickly as possible, making their way up floor by floor.

"We haven't run into either Fiona or Kenji yet." Alicia noted as they continued to move. "Do you think they're sticking by the weapon to defend it?"

"It's possible." Dan said. "But it seems kinda risky. All we have to do is claim the weapon and we win. A fight with it in the room would put them at a disadvantage."

"True." Alicia agreed. "In that case their other option would be a-"

"Sneak attack?" Fiona suddenly asked.

Suddenly hearing their classmate's voice made Dan and Alicia jump in surprise. As Dan turned around, Fiona lunged for his water tank in an attempt to rip it off. However, her attack didn't even dent it. She leaped back, barely managing to avoid Dan's counterattack in time.

"How'd you sneak up on us?!" Dan gasped.

Fiona giggled to herself. "That would be thanks to my partner in crime." She pointed up to the ceiling of the hallway where the top half of Kenji's body was hanging upside down.

"What the?!" Alicia gasped.

"Any ninja worth his name is a master of stealth." Kenji said.

**[Kenji Shinobunta. Quirk: Shadow Slip. He can enter shadows and move through them as a source of transportation. His body is forced out however if the shadow becomes too small or disappears. Also, he cannot enter his own shadow.]**

"I was really hoping to nab that water tank from you." Fiona said. "But I didn't even make a dent. What's it made out of?"

"A specially designed durable plastic." Dan smirked. "Sorry but you'll need to do a lot more than yank or claw at it with your bare hands to rip it off."

"Figures." Fiona said. She moved to the side just in time to avoid Dan's stretched out arm of water.

"Alicia, hurry to the weapon! I'll keep them busy!" Dan shouted to his partner.

"Right!" Alicia nodded as she took off running.

"I've got this, Kenji." Fiona said. "You hurry back and keep the weapon safe."

"Understood." Kenji said as his body slipped back into the shadows.

"Hate to break it to you, but your partner won't reach the room before Kenji." Fiona said confidently. "He can move super fast when going through shadows. That's how he was able to pinpoint your location."

"Well then I guess I'll just have to trust her to beat him." Dan said with a smirk.

The two students stared each other down. With both their teammates going for the weapon, neither of them would be getting back up from this fight. It would be a one on one showdown between the two of them.

Fiona observed her opponent. '_His Quirk is probably something that allows him to manipulate water. If I can remove that tank from him, this fight is mine. But my attack earlier didn't even scratch it.'_ she thought. '_Oh well. Guess I'll have to take it up a notch.'_

Dan readied himself to fight when he saw Fiona reach into her pocket. But to his surprise, instead of a weapon she pulled out a water bottle. "Um… isn't it a bad time for a water break?"

Fiona smirked as she took the cap of the bottle off. "The only thing that's gonna break is you when I'm through with you." she said. She quickly poured the water in the bottle on the fins on her arms. She then did the same to her legs. Taking a deep breath, Fiona took a fighting stance. The fins on her arms and legs suddenly stiffened, looking more like weapons than a part of her body. "Alright, now we can get started."

'_The hell?! Are those fins or blades?'_ Dan asked himself.

**[Fiona Mizune. Quirk: Fins. She has a pair of fins on her arms, legs, ears. They allow her to swim incredibly fast underwater. They can also become razor sharp when wet.]**

"Here I come!" Fiona called out as she sped at Dan. She went in for an attack with the fin on her left arm. Dan prepared to dodge, but he widened his eyes when Fiona sped past him instead, her attack turning out to be a feint.

'_Let's see that tank withstand a slash from my fins.'_ Fiona thought to herself with a grin. Dan quickly reacted though and brought his arm up to block. He surrounded it with water and froze it, adding even more ice from his tank, the water flowing in through the tubes.

"Ice?!" Fiona gasped.

"Nice, isn't it? Usually I need an outside source of water for extra resource, which the suit helps with." Dan smirked.

**[Dan Hiryo. Quirk: H2O Body. He can expel the water in his body from his skin, reshaping it or freezing it at his leisure. He can also do the same with any outside water or ice he's touching.]**

'_Damn. Wasn't expecting him to be able to use ice too.'_ Fiona thought. She decided to put some distance between her and Dan as she jumped back. But Dan had no intention of letting her escape as he stretched out his watery arm and covered Fiona's arms in them. "What the heck?!"

"Thanks for the extra water." Dan grinned as he brought his arms back, taking all of the water on Fiona's fins with him. Now the fins on her arms were back to normal, losing their sharp edge. "Neat, huh? My Quirk also allows me to freely manipulate any water I'm touching."

'_Ah crap.'_

"Take this!" Dan yelled as he swung his ice-encased fist forward. Fiona attempted to block it, but widened her eyes in surprise when Dan's other arm came and wrapped the binding cloth around her arm.

"Gotcha!" Dan grinned. '_Now let's hope Alicia's having as much luck as I am.'_

* * *

Alicia hoped she remembered the layout of the building correctly from the handout they were given. There wasn't any time to double check for herself. If she wanted any hope of beating Kenji to the weapon, she had to move as fast as she could.

Finally bursting through a door, Alicia saw the fake weapon sitting on the other end of the room. She glanced around quickly. As far as she could tell, Kenji wasn't here yet.

'_Better hurry.'_ Alicia thought. She mad a mad dash for the weapon. All she had to do was claim it and her team would win.

Unfortunately, Alicia had been wrong about Kenji not being in the room.

Coming out from one of the shadows in the room, Kenji silently lunged at Alicia from behind. The black haired girl would never see him coming. He tackled Alicia to the ground and pinned her down.

'_Damnit. He was hiding in a shadow. How did I not see that coming?'_ Alicia thought to herself.

"Stay down." Kenji said. "You can't win against me."

"That's what you think." Alicia said. She placed her palms on the floor and fired off a blast of sunlight energy from both of them. The force of the shockwave forced Kenji off of her, though the recoil had hurt her as well.

"That was quite a risky move." Kenji said.

"Yeah, well desperate times call for desperate measures." Alicia said. She flinched from the pain in her hands. Blasting the floor like that had really put a strain on her from the recoil. '_Can't give up now though. Gotta fight through the pain.'_

"Let's see you handle this!" Kenji said, rushing forward. "Chasing Leopard!"

Alicia quickly brought her arms up to her left side to block an incoming kick from Kenji. She succeeded, but Kenji quickly followed up almost immediately with a second kick to Alicia's right. Alicia was knocked away, hitting a column in the room. Kenji didn't let up however, pressing the assault as he attacked with kick after kick. It was all Alicia could do just to block and dodge him.

"I'm not someone who simply relies on my Quirk." Kenji said. "I've trained in any different styles of martial arts. You stand no chance against me in close combat like this. You can't use your Quirk." As he threw another kick however, he saw Alicia make no move to block him. He thought his moment of victory had come, but he widened his eyes when Alicia endured the blow and grabbed his leg.

"So you think I can't handle myself in a fist fight?" Alicia asked. "Hate to break it to you, but I know quite a bit of martial arts myself."

'_Damnit.'_ Kenji thought as he struggled to free his leg, but to no avail.

"I may not have names for my moves like you do, but I do have something more important." Alicia said. With one swift motion, she pulled his leg and got him in close. She let go of Kenji'a leg, only to grab him by the face. She bent him down and swung her knee up, driving it into his gut. "Technique." she said as she brought his face smashing into the ground. "And power!"

Kenji slammed into the ground with a painflow blow. He groaned in pain and tried to get up. But by the time he had sat up, Alicia was already at the weapon, having her hand on it with a triumphant smirk.

"Score one for the good guys." Alicia said.

"And the winners are the heroes! Team C!" All Might declared.

Kenji let out a defeated sigh. "It seems I still have much to learn."

"That was still a tough fight though." Alicia said, walking over to him and holding out her arm. "I'd love for you to teach me some of those martial art styles you've learned sometime."

"Sounds good." Kenji said, accepting Alicia's hand as she helped him to his feet.

* * *

With the first mock battle ending triumphantly for Dan and Alicia, All Might congratulated the duo while praising both teams for their efforts. After that however, he moved onto the second fight. This time it was Team D of Hyde and Lilina as the heroes, and Team A of Sakura and Melody as the villains.

Sakura and Melody were given the same preparation time as the last villain team had. But once that time ended, Hyde and Lilina quickly sprung into action.

"So let me get this straight. You can change anything you touch into a different periodic element?" Hyde asked as they ran.

"Pretty much." Lilina said. "Though I'm not very good at using it for multiple elements."

**[Lilina Yoake. Quirk: Alchemist Touch. She can change the atomic makeup of anything she touches to a different element. This does not work on living things however. In addition, this change only lasts for a short period of time. Afterwards, the altered element goes back to normal.]**

"If that's really true, then I think I know how we can work together." Hyde said.

Lilina listened as Hyde explained their strategy for a fight. As she listened, a smirk came to her lips. "I like it. Not bad."

"Alright. So all we gotta do is find those losers and-" Hyde stopped talking as something suddenly entered his hearing. It sounded like singing. "What the?"

Lilina heard the music too. She wasn't sure, but something felt off about this singing. Her eyes widened when she realized the sudden change in how her body felt. She was beginning to feel drowsy and sluggish.

"Don't listen to it, Hyde!" Lilina shouted at him. "It's one of their Quirks!"

"Too late." a new voice spoke. Both Hyde and Lilina watched as Sakura walked out into view. "Keep it going Melody. It's affecting them for sure."

"Of course." Melody said as she continued to sing. "_Fall to sleep, little lambs. Let your dreams take you in. Fall to sleep, little lambs. Sleep will wash your sins."_

**[Melody Fukuyame. Quirk: Song. Her singing can have various effects on people, ranging from increasing their power and physical abilities to making them lose their will to fight. She can also focus her Quirk to only affect certain people.]**

"Damnit… My body… Feels so weak." Hyde muttered as he tried to block out Melody's voice.

"And now for phase 2." Sakura said. She waved her arms out. "Let Mother Nature wrap you in her embrace."

Suddenly, the windows at the end of the hall behind Hyde and Lilina shattered. They turned around and saw long tree branches coming their way.

"What the hell?!" Lilina gasped.

**[Sakura Avalon. Quirk: Floral Fury. She can manipulate the flora and fauna around her, including making them grow and/or shrink at her leisure.]**

"I took the opportunity to notice any outdoor trees near the building before we entered." Sakura said. "Once we trapped you at this point, I'd be able to use the trees right outside the window."

'_Shit. If we get caught in that when we're like this, it's over.'_ Lilina thought. She glanced over at Hyde. Melody's song had affected him too much. She was also feeling slow at the moment. She needed to act quickly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a marble. '_This is gonna hurt. But I've got to try.'_

Using her quirk, Lilina turned the marble into platinum. Once she was finished, she threw it down on her foot. The hard metal marble made her flinch with pain, but it sharpened her senses back up. Kicking off the ground, she ran straight for Sakura. To her surprise, she saw Sakura run her way too. But if little miss nature wanted to fight close range, then that's what she would get. However, Lilina was thrown completely off guard as Sakura slid underneath her and went after Hyde.

"No!" Lilina exclaimed. She turned to go after Sakura but the pink haired girl's trees formed a wall and blocked her off. "Damnit!"

There was no way Lilina was getting through that wall. She could always try to smash her way through by toughening up her gauntlets but she had a feeling Sakura would repair it with little difficulty. And she didn't have any big attack that could smash through the entire wall at once. That left her with one option. Hope for the best with Hyde now that Melody's singing wouldn't be affecting him as much, and go after the weapon.

"Sorry, but you're not getting past me." Melody said.

"You think so? Well I always do love to surprise my audience." Lilina smirked. She touched her fingers to her two gauntlets and turned them to iron. If she could land one good blow with these, she'd be able to get past Melody.

"Alright, this song goes out to me." Melody said, twirling a microphone in her hand and bringing it to her lips. "_Come on, come! Time to get pumped! Come on, come on! You can do it! Come on, come on! Bring you dreams to life!"_

Lilina readied herself for whatever effects the song might have on her, but to her surprise she didn't feel any different. It was only when Melody charged at her with a powerful kick off the ground that she realized why.

"You're songs can affect yourself too?!"

"You got it!" Melody said. She dodged a punch from the red haired girl and sent a powerful upwards kick into Lilina's jaw. All the while continuing to sing and keep her buff going.

'_Damnit. That one seriously hurt.'_ Lilina thought as she landed on the ground. '_I can't let her hit me again.'_

Things quickly turned into a hand to hand combat fight between the two girls. Lilina could match Melody in power with her toughened up gauntlets, but the singer's song had also increased her speed a bit. The weight of Lilina's gauntlets made her slower in comparison.

To make things worse, Melody flicked her wrist of the hand that was holding the microphone. Just like that, the end of the microphone extended further, making the item roughly four feet long.

"You're not the only one with a weapon." Melody said. She swung it up and struck Lilina in the face. She twirled it around skillfully and brought the speaker back to her lips. "_Yeah! Yeah! You ain't got nothing on me! I'm gonna fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee!"_

* * *

The separation from his partner was a worrying trial for Hyde. In the short time they were together, they had found that their Quirks worked well together. They had planned for Lilina to turn things into materials Hyde could use his Quirk on. But now that plan had gone kaput with their separation. And to top it all off, Sakura had put plantlife all around him, making it near impossible to tell where the pink haired girl was.

The only saving grace was that Melody's singing was no longer able to be heard by Hyde. With his strength returned, Hyde had been able to free himself from the tree binding him. But now he was stuck in this space.

"Hey! Why don't you come out here and fight me like a real hero?!" Hyde called out.

"A taunt? I'm not falling for that." Sakura said. Her voice echoed through the trees making it hard to tell where she was.

'_Fine then. If I don't know what direction she's in, I'll just smash everything.'_ Hyde thought. He slammed his hand on the floor, creating his territory. "Take this!"

Sakura gasped as several pyramid-like structures rose up from the floor, seeming to be made of the same material. The broke apart her trees and exposed her.

"Gotcha!" Hyde grinned as he ripped one of his pyramids up from the ground and sent it flying at Sakura.

**[Hyde Gekido. Quirk: Territory Creation. When activated, everything in a certain radius becomes his "territory". Inside this space, he can use the earth and everyday construction materials (concrete, gravel, etc) within it to create any type of structure he wants.]**

Sakura braced herself and was blasted out of the window. She raised a nearby tree up to catch her, keeping her from falling.

"Don't think I'm done with you yet!" Hyde shouted as he threw another pyramid her way.

Sakura gasped and shrunk her tree down so the projectile flew over her. '_That was too close.'_

Hyde walked out from the broken window and smirked. "Well? You gonna give up? Or are you foolish enough to attack me in my own kingdom?"

'_It's been about seven minutes so far, give or take.'_ Sakura thought. '_Once fifteen minutes are up, we win. But keeping him busy for that long won't be easy.'_

"And that's it! Team D wins!"

The sudden declaration from All Might nearly made both Hyde and Sakura trip over. "What?!"

It was true. Though her fight with Melody had been an exhausting one, Lilina had managed to make her way to the weapon and claim it. She grinned victoriously as she dealt with the pain her body was aching with right now.

With that the second battle was over. All Might had praised both teams for a fell fought battle. He did have a few words to say to Hyde however about the property damage, a factor that should always be taken into account when fighting villains. But once he was done, they moved onto the next battle.

* * *

Marcus and Hikari stood near the weapon, playing the villain team. Up against them were Daiki and Sarah, who were making their way to them now.

"So you seem pretty chummy with these two." Hikari noted. "Any insight you have on their Quirks?"

"Sarah can teleport. Daiki can turn his body into electricity and run through circuits." Marcus explained. "Put simply, they have a huge advantage in maneuverability."

"We'll have to be careful when it comes to keeping the weapon away from them then." Hikari said.

"Indeed." Marcus said. "We'd best ready ourselves to fight at a moment's notice." He activated his Quirk and both of his arms gained scales with his hands being replaced by talons.

**[Marcus Cersy. Quirk: Wyvernyx. He can transform parts of his body into that of a semi-wyvern, giving himself wings, scales, and talons depending on what section he transforms. His tail is always a part of his body, whether he's in human or wyvern form. While in his wyvern form, he can exhale a special breath that has slight healing effects.]**

Hikari brought out her claws, her whole body shivering with excitement. "Guess I better prepare myself too."

**[Hikari Akabane. Quirk: Catgirl. She has cat ears and a tail, in addition to claws that she can sheath and unsheath. She also has many cat traits, including good speed and balance.]**

The two partners kept a close watch on the door. Marcus had taken steps to ensure that Daiki wouldn't be able to slip past them with his Quirk by going through the ceiling lights. With them off, Daiki had no clear circuit path to follow. So his only option would be coming through the door.

And that was just what he did.

Smashing the door open with an electric punch, Daiki emerged into the room. Marcus didn't see Sarah with him. He could only guess that the girl would be appearing once they were both distracted. She'd be able to get to the weapon in a second with her Quirk.

"Guard the weapon!" Marcus told Hikari. The blonde girl nodded and hurried to the weapon while Marcus lunged at Daiki.

Daiki quickly turned his body into electricity and dodged Marcus's attack.

"I thought you couldn't control your movements well in lightning form." Marcus said.

"That's what this harness is for. Specially designed to make it easier for me." Daiki told him.

**[Daiki Izumi. Quirk: Lightning Body. Able to change the characteristics of any part of his body into lightning, increasing his speed and maneuverability. When he turns his body into lightning, he can enter any form of wired appliances.]**

"Northwest corner!" Daiki shouted.

Marcus knew almost instantly what the shout was for. In that instant, Sarah burst into the room. She looked over in the direction Daiki had shouted and saw the weapon sitting there. In less than a second, she vanished and reappeared right by the weapon.

**[Sarah Radcliffe. Quirk: Flashwarp. She can teleport anywhere she wants, as long as she has a clear sight of her target. She can also transport others with her, though she needs to be physically touching them to do so.]**

"Take this!" Hikari yelled, not planning on letting Sarah claim the weapon and beat her team. As she threw a punch, Sarah vanished, only to reappear behind her. Sarah threw a punch to Hikari's face, knocking the girl to the ground. Sarah leaned against the weapon with a triumphant smirk on her face. "That's game."

"The winners are Team H!" All Might declared.

Marcus let out a defeated sigh. "Darn. Wasn't expecting you to out-maneuver us so quickly."

"Daiki's the one that came up with the plan." Sarah admitted. "It went pretty smoothly, all things considered."

"Guess I need to train more." Marcus said. "Next time, I won't lose."

"Anytime, buddy." Sarah grinned.

* * *

The villain team of Merci and Shiro stood in the hallway, blocking off the path to the weapon for Rekka and Satoshi. They had no intentions of letting the hero team pass.

"Don't hate me for this. I'm not one to hold back." Shiro said.

**[Shiro Cryki. Quirk: Crocodile. He can do pretty much anything a crocodile can, as assumed by his humanoid-crocodile appearance.]**

Reaching into his breast pocket, Merci pulled out a rose. "You shall bear witness to my lovely Quirk, mademoiselle Rekka." With a flick of his wrist, the stem of the rose he was holding extended, creating a long thorny whip. "Try not to be blinded by my elegance."

**[Merci Boqu. Quirk: Flower Manipulation. Can manipulate flowers for various effects, such as extending their stems to use as whips or increasing the effect of their aroma on people.]**

Rekka let out a giggle. "This will be fun. Allow me to treat you to my hexes." Waving her hands out, several blue embers appeared and hovered around the girl. "Try not to get burned."

**[Rekka Majo. Quirk: Will o' Wisp. Able to create small blue embers. They stay floating wherever she creates them, unless acted upon by an outside force like wind, for one minute before disappearing. If they come into contact with something, they make a small explosion.]**

"Hehe, you think a bit of fire is going to stop us?" Shiro asked confidently.

"Maybe not, but how about this?!" Satoshi said. He swung both of his arms down, creating a powerful gust of wind with his two wings. The gust blew the embers towards Shiro and Merci.

**[Satoshi Shinito. Quirk: Arm Wings. His arms are basically wings, having feathers along them. He can use them to glide in the air, or flap them to make a strong gust.]**

"Merci! Take out those flames!" Shiro called out.

"Of course, monsieur Shiro." Merci said. He waved his whip around, striking each of the embers. Sadly, they had not known about their explosive effect and ended up on the receiving end of a barrage of explosions from the embers.

The male team laid on the ground dizzily while Rekka and Satoshi went past them. It didn't take long for them to claim the weapon and end up victorious.

* * *

The final mock battle was one everyone was paying attention to. On the hero team were Vivi Pixi and Nene Fukasa. For the villain team, Jill Suzuki and Shinobu Reikon. Shinobu had gotten the highest scores out of anyone from the current list of freshmen on the written exam. Everyone was eager to see what he could do in a fight though.

"Oh man, this is going to be so much fun!" Jill said excitedly. "I can't wait to duke it out! Come on and hurry up already!"

Shinobu let out a sigh and shook his head. "You do realize that our objective is to keep them _away_ from the weapon, right? It'd be better if they take their time getting here."

"Well sure, but that's no fun." Jill said. "I want to have some real excitement."

Shinobu rolled his eyes. "Just don't hold me back."

Suddenly, the door to the room burst open. Nene leaped in, going straight for the two villains. Jill grinned as she compressed her legs and sprang off the ground, rocketing towards Nene.

**[Jill Suzuki. Quirk: Spring Legs. Her legs act similar to springs, able to compress down and allow her to jump long distances, and with more force than the average person.]**

"You're going down!" Jill grinned as she threw a punch at Nene. To her surprise however, the girl suddenly split into two, moving to her right and left.

"Nice try. But you can't catch me!" Both Nenes said with a grin.

**[Nene Fukasa. Quirk: Multiply. She can split herself into multiple copies of herself. The more clones she has out at one time though, the smaller she and her clones become.]**

"Hehe, too eas- Woah!" Nene exclaimed as she and her clone were blown away by a sudden shockwave. They hit the wall and looked over to see Shinobu holding his hand out, as if to show he was the cause of the attack just now.

"Did you honestly expect such a simple straightforward attack to work?" Shinobu asked in an unamused tone.

**[Shinobu Reikon. Quirk: Psi. He can fire off psychic impulses and waves from his body. The strength of these psychic attacks are dependent on his mental concentration and overall intelligence.]**

'_I couldn't even see his attack.'_ Nene thought to herself.

"By the way, your distraction tactic won't work either." Shinobu said. He waved his arm and sent a whiplike wave at a small dot flying in the corner of the room.

"Ah!" Vivi exclaimed as she was hit by the attack. She fell to the ground and returned to normal size.

**[Vivi Pixi. Quirk: Fairy. She has fairy wings sprouting from her back that allow her to fly. She can also transform into a fairy, shrinking her size greatly, but allowing her to fly much faster than normal.]**

Shinobu pushed his glasses up. "How simple. Is this really the standard to get into U.A.?"

"Grr… We're not finished yet!" Nene said. She was about to move, but Jill quickly pinned her down and wrapped the binding cloth around her arm while restraining her clone.

"Can't let you take all the glory Shinobu." Jill grinned.

Shinobu moved over to Vivi and binded her as well. "Far too easy."

"And that's it! The winners of the final battle are Team J!" All Might declared.

* * *

With the hero training done for the day, school had let out. Each of the students were heading home. For Class 1-C, lots of the students were chatting with each other, talking about their Quirks and the mock battles.

"Man, you were so cute as a fairy Vivi!" Fiona said.

"Thanks." Vivi said with an embarrassed smile. "I just wish I had been able to do better in the mock battle."

"Shinobu was pretty strong." Marcus admitted. "He's probably on par with Daiki when it comes to strategy."

"Speaking of Shinobu…" Jill said as she spotted the purple haired teen in the distance. "Hey! Shinobu!"

"Hm?" Shinobu turned his head and looked over at the group coming over to him. "What do you want?"

"You wanna hang with us?" Fiona asked. "We were thinking of going somewhere to have fun."

"No thanks." Shinobu said. "I've got better things to do."

"Better things than getting to know your classmates?" Jill questioned.

"What does being classmates have to do with anything?" he asked. "It's not like we're friends or anything."

"Come on, no need to be so distant." Jill said with a smile. "We're all classmates. So we should get along and be friends, shouldn't we?"

"There's no point." Shinobu told them. "My goal is to become the top hero. To do that, everyone is an enemy. To me, classmates are just people that simply happen to be around me during classes. Nothing more."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Marcus asked him. "They're just trying to be friendly."

"Become friends with a bunch of amateurs? How stupid." Shinobu said with a shake of his head. "I don't need others dragging me down. Now if you'll excuse me, I should be leaving."

The group watched as Shinobu walked out of the school gate. His words had killed the bright mood the group had seconds ago.

"What the heck is his problem?" Alicia asked, walking over. "There was no need for him to be rude."

"I guess he's just the loner type." Vivi suggested.

"Heh, a guy like him will never be a top hero with that attitude." Hyde said. "A top hero needs to be charismatic, like me."

Nene rolled her eyes. "Right. Cause you're SO charismatic."

"Hey, just you watch. I'm gonna be the top hero one day. You'll see." Hyde said, walking out of the school gate.

Alicia let out an annoyed sigh. "I don't know who's worse. Hyde or Shinobu."

"Meh, let them act how they want." Lilina said. "On another note… Vivi!"

"Huh?"

"You wanna make some money on the side with your Quirk? I know just the thing. We could go and make a show out of it! It'd be perfect!"

"A-A show?!" Vivi asked. "I don't know… I'm not sure I'd be good at it."

"Oh come on. Just transform into a fairy right now! I'm sure everyone will agree on how cute you look!"

"R-Right now?!" Vivi asked. "Umm… I can't."

"Why not?"

Vivi's cheeks were red as she pressed her fingers together shyly. "Well you see my hero costume shrinks down into fairy size with me because that's how it was designed. But with my Quirk, it's normally only my body that shrinks. My clothes would stay normal sized."

The implication hit everyone as they widened their eyes. Alicia and the other girls looked over to the boys, who were looking away and whistling innocently.

"Perverts." Nene said.

"Ok, we can still work with this. We just have to change our target audience." Lilina suggested. "We'll call it The Naked Fairy's Dance."

Vivi gasped, the very thought of it nearly making her faint in embarrassment. Fiona stepped in and saved Vivi from Lilina's marketing agenda. "Alright Lilina, that's enough. I don't think Vivi wants to do it."

"Fine…" Lilina moaned.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but U.A.'s off to a great start for me!" Jill cheered raising her fist into the air. "Let's make this the best years of our lives!"

Several cheers of agreement came from the class as everyone walked out of the school gate and went their separate ways.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello readers. I'm back with a brand new chapter for this fic. Hope you all like it.**

It was another bright day over the skies of Japan. And once again, another day of classes at U.A. Students all moved through the halls as they went to their classrooms.

Dan walked into the room for Class 1-C. It seemed a few other students were already there. Jill and Nene were chatting in a corner of the room, engaged in some sort of topic. Shinobu was at his desk reading a book, not giving anyone else around him a second thought. One other thing that caught Dan's attention was Sakura at her desk tending to a flower pot.

"Hey Sakura." Dan said, walking over to the girl. "What's with the flower."

"Oh this? It's a plant I've been taking care of. I was going to go to Principal Nezu after class and ask him if I could help out with the school garden by the front gate." Sakura explained. "If we grow our own fruits and vegetables, the school could save a lot of money."

"You're really into gardening, huh?" Dan asked.

"Yeah, it's kind of a hobby of mine." Sakura admitted with an embarrassed blush. "With my Quirk being what it is, plants have always had an effect on me."

"Well that's good." Dan said. "Everyone needs a hobby."

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your hobby?" Sakura asked.

"To be honest, video games." Dan said with a chuckle. "Though I do love to go swimming whenever I get the chance."

"Me too." Fiona chimed in. "Guess us with Quirks suited for the water really have a love for swimming, huh?"

"Guess so." Dan said.

"Outta the way, outta the way, outta the way!" the sudden voice caught everyone's attention as Lilina rushed into the room. She slammed the door behind her and tried to catch her breath. "Ok, I need you guys to not ask any questions and just hide me! Please!"

"What's going on?" Nene asked.

"I said no questions!" Lilina snapped.

"I think I heard her! This way!"

A nervous sweat went down Lilina's back. She lunged and hit behind the teacher's desk. Not even a second later, the door opened with a group of angry looking students looking into the room.

"Hey, did someone see a redhead girl with a ponytail?" a student asked.

The students in the room all looked at each other. Sakura pointed to the side. "I just saw her run down the hall a minute ago I think."

"Thanks." the student said. "Alright, let's get her guys! When we find her, she's gonna pay!"

"Yeah!" the others shouted in agreement as they all ran in the direction Sakura pointed them towards.

Waiting another few seconds to make sure they were gone, Lilina breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Sakura. You're a lifesaver."

"Why were those guys after you anyway?" Vivi asked.

"Well… I _may_ have sold them some pebbles I temporarily turned into jewels with my Quirk." Lilina said. "But hey, they never asked if the jewels were natural or if they would stay that way. They have no reason to ask for a refund."

Everyone looked at the girl with narrowed eyes. It had become pretty clear that Lilina was a con artist in the short time they had known her. She would do anything to make some quick cash.

The minutes ticked on by as more and more of Class 1-C came into the room. Before long, it was a minute until the homeroom bell would ring.

"Umm… excuse me everyone?" Sakura asked. "Shouldn't we all get to our seats before Ms. Yamagori comes in?"

While some of the students were in their seats, there were many standing around the room chatting with others. The shy nervous voice of the pink haired girl wasn't even noticed.

"Man, I can't wait to see what we do today in hero training!" Shiro said excitedly.

"Bet you I'll beat you at whatever it is." Hyde smirked.

"What was that?" Shiro asked.

"Umm… everyone? The homeroom bell's about to ring." Sakura said again.

"You've got nothing on me, croc boy! Don't forget, I won my mock battle the other day while you lost!" Hyde said.

"You didn't even win for your team! Lilina was the one who won!"

"Aw, I wasn't aware you were keeping such a close eye on me Shiro." Lilina giggled. "Aren't I a lucky girl?"

"Wh-What?! No, I didn't mean it like that!"

"Heh, you should focus more on trying to reach the top rather than girls." Hyde told him. "Not that you'd ever reach it since I'm gonna be at the top. But hey, you could always try for second."

"You little… I'll show you! Today in training I'll-"

"HEY! GET TO YOUR SEATS!" Sakura suddenly shouted over everyone. "WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE U.A STUDENTS SO START ACTING LIKE IT!"

The intimidating shout from Sakura caused the class to widen their eyes. Those that were still standing around quickly got to their seats, not wanting to anger her any further.

"Thank you." Sakura said.

Just as she said this, the bell rang and Ms. Yamagori walked into the room. She sat at her desk, putting her feet up on the desk as she looked at a list of notes. "Glad to see you brats are at least able to get to your seats without me having to tell you to. Now then, let's move onto business. Let's see here… Ah, yes. Class Representative." She looked at her students. "You bunch need to decide who will be the class representative. I don't really care how you decide, just hurry up and pick someone."

"As if there was even a choice to begin with." Hyde said as he stood up. "Fellow students, I graciously accept the position of class rep."

"Yeah, no." Nene said. "No one's gonna pick an arrogant moron like you to be the class rep."

"You trying to pick a fight with me?!" Hyde yelled.

"Oh please, we're all thinking it." Nene told him.

"Pick me then!" Jill said as she stood up with an energetic grin. "I'd love to be class rep!"

"No pick me!"

"What about me! I know I could do it!"

Before long, it became a full blown argument amongst the students, with almost everyone fighting for the position of class representative. In most schools, it would be a frankly boring job. But for those aiming to be heroes, it looked good to be in a position of leadership during school when you applied to hero agencies after graduation. It was something that would be coveted by almost anyone aiming to be a pro hero.

Ms. Yamagori let out an annoyed sigh. "Damn brats. You can't even act civilized for something like this?" she muttered.

"Excuse me!" Vivi said as she stood up from her desk. "I think Sakura should be the class representative!"

The suggestion caught everyone off guard. With so many practically begging for others to choose them, it was odd for someone to volunteer another for it. All eyes fell on Sakura.

"Why Sakura?" Hyde asked. "What makes her so special?"

"W-Well, she seems to be able to get everyone to follow instructions." Vivi explained shyly. "She got everyone to go to their seats before the bell rang."

'_More like threatened.'_ Melody thought silently.

"She was also able to get Shiro to stop eating messy the other day too." Vivi added. "Since she seems to have a good hold on everyone, I think she'd be the best fit."

"Sakura, huh?" Marcus said. "Well I was hoping to be class rep personally. But I could live with her being it."

"Yeah. Vivi makes a compelling case." Fiona agreed.

"Oui Oui. Mademoiselle Sakura would make a lovely class representative." Merci chimed in.

"I think she'd do well." Dan said. He looked over at the pink haired girl. "What do you say Sakura? You up for it?"

Sakura felt all eyes on her. Having so much attention on her honestly made her feel rather nervous. Could she really live up to everyone's expectations as the class representative? If she was being honest, her moments of rage were more impulsive than anything. She didn't really do them on purpose. But at the same time, Vivi herself went out of her way to volunteer her. Maybe she could do it after all.

"Well… if everyone really believes in me that much…" Sakura said. "I'll do it. I'll strive to be the best class representative for Class 1-C."

"Good. It's decided then. Avalon's the class rep." Yamagori said. "Now then, I have a few other things I need to get through telling you so shut up and listen."

Not wanting to get on their teacher's bad side, the students remained quiet as Yamagori went over homeroom announcements. It was clear that she would rather be doing a million different things than this. None of them could tell why she was a teacher at U.A. with such a bad attitude. It was as if doing this felt like a punishment to her.

Once homeroom was over, the day went on as normal. Regular classes in the morning. Hero training in the afternoon. Same routine as usual. Things continued on like this each day for the students of Class 1-C. But before long it finally came time to something that any high school students looked forward to. A magical two days given to them every week. The weekend.

* * *

Alicia stretched her arms as she relaxed herself. Hero training was rather tiring. On top of that, she had normal classes and homework. Those weren't too bad though since Alicia considered herself a diligent student. But even still, the weekend was a welcome time of relaxation for her. She had spent most of Saturday doing her homework, so that was out of the way. Now it was Sunday and she had the entire day to herself.

"Hey sis!" a voice called to Alicia in her room. It was a little girl around the age of twelve. She had short brunette hair and red eyes like Alicia. It was only fitting considering the girl was Alicia's little sister, Emi Tsuki.

"Hey Emi." Alicia greeted. "Anything you need?"

"Can you play with me?! Pretty please?!" Emi asked.

Alicia giggled at her sister. "Sure Emi. Why not?"

"Emi…" their mother called out. "Have you finished your homework yet?"

"Well… sorta."

"I want it all finished before you go outside to play young lady. No procrastinating."

"Fine…" Emi moaned as she went back to her room.

With her little sister now busy, Alicia pondered what to do for the day. She could always go to the mall and do some shopping. As she thought of her options, she noticed her phone receive a text message. Bringing her phone close to her, she took a look and saw it was a message from Jill going out to the entire class.

_Hey. I was thinking we could all spend the day hanging out and having some fun. Anyone in? -Jill Suzuki_

A hangout day with some of her classmates. It wasn't the worst idea in the world. As Alicia thought about it, she saw some of her other classmates respond, agreeing to the hang out day. Soon enough, Alicia sent a response as well, saying she was in too.

Once everyone had responded, the group agreed on a meetup time and place. Alicia left the house and headed out to meet up with her classmates, after letting her parents know where she'd be.

* * *

Alicia walked through the city as she came up to the meeting spot. When it came into view, she saw Jill, Sakura, Fiona, and Satoshi. Jill caught sight of Alicia and waved to her.

"Hey Alicia! There you are!"

"Hey guys." Alicia greeted as she came up to the group. "So who else are we waiting on?"

"Well, the only ones that didn't respond were Kenji and Shinobu." Jill said. "The rest of the class said they could make it."

"Yeah. Those two are pretty antisocial." Alicia said, thinking about both Shinobu's elitist attitude and Kenji's silent-type ninja style he had.

Minutes ticked on by as more of Class 1-C showed up. Before long, all 18 of the students that had agreed to the meetup had arrived.

"So what exactly are we gonna be doing?" Lilina asked.

Jill showed a big grin. "There's an awesome arcade nearby. Who's up for an afternoon of video games."

"Aw yeah! Now that sounds like fun!" Hyde said with an excited look in his eyes. "I'll beat you guys at any game!"

"Oh? Now the gauntlet's been thrown." Dan smirked. "This sounds like fun."

"I've never really been to an arcade." Sakura admitted. "I don't know if I'll be any good."

"Ah, don't worry. It's easy." Shiro grinned. "Just let loose and have fun."

Sakura nodded her head. "Ok then. I'll try my best. As the class representative of Class 1-C, I won't let you down!"

"You need to relax Sakura. It's not a competition or anything." Hikari said. "Though I would like to see anyone try and beat me at skeeball."

"I'll take that challenge." Sarah said.

Jill saw the group all chatting together about arcade games and what they'd be playing. This was exactly what she wanted. A fun day for them to all unwind and grow closer as a class. "Alright! Let's go kick some video game butt Class 1-C!"

"Yeah!"

* * *

The arcade was abuzz with excitement among the Class 1-C students. They were scattered around the place all playing different games.

Hyde had quickly regretted his challenge that he could beat them at _any_ game at the arcade. Some of the girls had battled it out with him in DDR. Hyde considered himself a video game fan, but dancing was not his strong suit. His first loss was to Melody. Losses to Jill, Alicia, Fiona, Lilina, and Sarah soon followed.

"This is so dumb! When I said games, I meant real games! Not some sissy dancing stuff!" Hyde complained.

"Hey, you were the one that said you'd beat us at any game at the arcade." Fiona smirked. "Someone should have chosen their words more carefully."

"Let's play a real game! We'll see if you girls act so high and mighty then!"

"Alright hot shot." Nene said, pointing over to the row of seats for the driving race game. "I'll take you on in that."

Hyde looked over at the game the redhead was pointing to and grinned. He could handle a racing game no problem. "Bring it. You're going down."

As Hyde and Nene went over to the racing game, Hikari and Sarah were busy playing each other at skeeball. The two girls were practically tied with each other in each round they played.

"You're pretty good at this." Sarah grinned.

"Yeah, I've always had a natural talent for this game." Hikari said. "To be honest, I'm more surprised that you're able to keep up with me."

"My Quirk is all about precision and accuracy. This is no different." Sarah told her.

"It's nice to have such a worthy rival. But I won't lose."

"That's my line."

Over by the shooter games, Marcus glanced at Sarah. He had known the girl to be rather distant from people at times. He was happy to see her getting closer to others in the class.

"Hey Marcus. Eyes focused." Daiki said. "We've got a new wave of zombies to deal with."

"Right." Marcus said. He brought his attention back to the screen and started blowing off zombie heads left and right.

Over by the racing game, the race had started and Hyde was putting the pedal to the metal. "Aw yeah, eat my dust!"

"You wish, loser!" Nene grinned.

Suddenly, Hyde saw a car come in front of him, blocking him off. Another one came from the side and rammed him.

"What the hell?!" Hyde exclaimed. He looked to the side at the other seats. "Alright who did-" He widened his eyes when he saw Nene. And Nene. And another Nene after that.

"Did you forget? My Quirk allows me to multiply myself." Nene said. "And with making only two clones, I won't shrink much."

"That's cheating!"

"No it isn't. You never said you'd be taking anyone one on one." Nene said. "And I paid three times the amount so my clones could join in. It's all legit."

"Grr… Fine! I'll deal with your little handicap!" Hyde said. He quickly maneuvered his car and drove as fast as he could to catch up to the real Nene. "You better drive fast, cause you don't want to know what I'll do when I catch you!"

"Big talk. But can you beat my lead?"

"I don't know about him. But I bet I can." Dan suddenly said.

Nene widened her eyes as a car sped past hers. She looked to the end and saw Dan driving the last car in the row. He gave a wave to Hyde and the three Nene's. "Sup."

"Oh so that's how you wanna play?" Nene asked. "Fine then, I'll just have to beat you and Hyde both."

"Not happening." Dan smirked.

As the race continued, Sakura was with some of the other girls from her class. She wasn't entirely sure what game to try first.

"Come on, Sakura. It's not like there's a wrong answer. Just pick what looks fun."

"I… I'm not sure." Sakura said. "Oh, I've never done anything like this. It's so hard."

"Alright then. In that case, I'll pick your game out." Melody said. She pointed over to the DDR set up. "We'll be playing that."

Sakura widened her eyes. "D-D-Dancing?! But I've never danced like that before!"

"It's easy. Come on, I'll show you." Melody said. She grabbed Sakura by the hand and dragged her up to the DDR machine.

"Melody… I don't know about this." Sakura said nervously.

"Too late." Melody said. "Now break a leg."

Sakura stood on her platform as the song started. Saying she was nervous would be the understatement of the year. But there was no going back now. She took a deep breath and started stepping along as the screen directed her to. Though she wasn't exactly doing it in the precise rhythm.

"Geez, she really isn't very good at this." Fiona said.

"Darkness takes hold of us in different ways." Rekka said, the others jumping in surprise by her sudden appearance. Her everyday look was similar to her hero costume, a black hoodie covering most of her face. "The question is will this curse take hold of her, or will she break free of it."

The others were frankly a little creeped out by Rekka and the creepy grin she had. But Alicia brought their focus back on Sakura. "She just needs our support." she said. She cheered for the pink haired girl. "Go Class Rep! You can do it!"

The others looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They each began cheering for Sakura. "Come on Class Rep!"

"Man, I was so close." Hyde grumbled as he, Dan, and Nene walked over to the others. The three of them caught sight of Sakura and Melody dancing on the DDR machine. "What's going on?"

"Melody's trying to help Sakura by teaching her DDR." Fiona explained.

"Well she's not doing so hot." Marcus noted as he and the rest of the class came over. "Look at her score."

"Score doesn't matter. She needs to try having fun." Fiona said.

"So start cheering boys!" Jill said. "Go for it Class Rep! Show this song who's boss!"

Sakura did her best, but dancing in rhythm to a fast paced song like this was something she had never done before. She was missing nearly every step.

'_What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?'_

"Go Class Rep!"

The cheering finally registered in her hearing and Sakura turned and saw the rest of her classmates gathered. They were all cheering her on. Every single one of them were supporting her.

'_They all believe in me.'_ Sakura thought. She took a deep breath. A serious expression came to her face as she looked on at the screen. '_I can do this. I am the class representative of Class 1-C at U.A. I need to show that I can lead by example.'_ Finally she stepped on a panel at the right time. She widened her eyes as she did it. And another time after that. And once more after that.

"Look! She's doing it!" Alicia said.

"There you go." Melody said, looking at Sakura dancing next to her. "Just let the music take you over."

Sakura lost herself in the music. She stepped on each panel as it came up. Every step, every sway of her hips. Each movement brought more and more of this unbelievable feeling to her. '_I'm doing it. I'm really doing it.'_

The song continued as Sakura and Melody both danced in perfect synch. Class 1-C cheered for the class representative as she enjoyed herself. When the song finally ended, the applause was almost deafening.

* * *

"You were so awesome Sakura."

"Yeah Class Rep. You really killed it."

"Oh stop it." Sakura said with an embarrassed blush.

After a long and fun time at the arcade, Class 1-C finally decided to call it a day. They exited the arcade, chatting with each other and laughing joyfully.

"You should have seen Hyde after I beat him." Nene said. "He looked like he was about to cry."

"I was not!" Hyde yelled at her.

"Let's not forget who came in first for the race though." Dan said.

"Oh please. If I wasn't busy messing with Hyde, I would have beat you too."

"Oh? Making excuses now are we?" Hyde said mockingly. "Well I guess you did need three of you to beat me. So it's no surprise you'd make excuses for losing."

"What was that?!"

Jill let out a giggle. "This was a great idea. I'm glad we were able to do this."

"Yeah. We should do this again sometime." Fiona agreed.

"This was really fun." Alicia said with a smile.

"Yeah. To think we stayed in there so long the sun's almost set." Marcus said.

"What?!" Alicia gasped. She took notice of the orange sky. It was just as Marcus had said.

"Well time flies by when friends have fun together." Daiki said.

"I…" Alicia said. "I gotta go! Sorry!"

"Alicia?" Dan said in a confused tone. Before anyone could say anything, the black haired girl took off running.

"That was certainly weird." Hikari said. "Wonder what's up with her."

Alicia ran through the streets as fast as she could. She had to hurry. She couldn't afford to stay out much later. _'I need to__ hurry. I can't let them see me once night comes.'_

As Alicia ran off, the rest of Class 1-C each went their separate ways. Some lived nearby and could walk to their houses. A few that had Quirks that allowed them to travel long distances with ease used them to head home. Others were off to the train station. They all waved goodbye and walked away.

"See you tomorrow at school guys!"

"Yup! Can't wait to see what hero training U.A. has planned for us tomorrow!"

Little did they know they were being watched. Sitting on top of a nearby building, a female with long thick blonde hair looked down at Class 1-C. A smirk came to her lips as she locked her eyes on them.

'_They mentioned U.A. So those kids are students there?'_ she thought to herself. She brought her right hand to her face, bringing out a set of sharp nails, like the claws of a cat. '_It seems I've found my next prey to hunt.'_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Surprise readers. I decided to give you all a little present for the holidays and give you an early chapter. Next chapter will still be the usual time (early January). But for now, enjoy the chapter.**

Night began to creep across the sky as some of Class 1-C walked together to the train station. The group consisted of Dan, Hyde, Lilina, Merci, Nene, and Sakura. The others either lived close enough where the train wasn't necessary or had Quirks that allowed them to travel long distances easily.

"So did you guys hear about what happened with Class 1-A?" Nene asked.

"You're talking about the incident at USJ, right?" Dan asked.

Nene nodded her head. "Yeah. Apparently villains snuck into the facility and they had to fight them off."

All of them had heard about it. It had been big news throughout the school. USJ was one of U.A's many facilities, this one being designed for rescue training. But villains had managed to sneak in and attacked the students there, in an attempt to kill All Might. It had failed in the end with luckily zero casualties. But having the school's security breached had put everyone on high alert. And of course, Class 1-A had become the talk of the school with how they had fought off a bunch of villains.

"Those villains must have been a bunch of small fry." Hyde said. "I coulda taken them easily I bet."

"Still… to think that they'd be bold enough to pull a stunt like that." Dan said. "It's rather worrying to think what else might happen."

"I agree." Sakura nodded. "I wouldn't want to think what might have happened if we were put in such a dangerous situation."

"Have no fear. For Merci shall protect you from any villains." Merci said.

Nene rolled her eyes. "I don't think she'd need protection from you, Merci."

"Such cold words! They do not befit a lady of your exquisite beauty." Merci spoke.

"Well aren't you the sweet talker?"

The sudden voice made the entire group jump. Out of nowhere, a figure rushed in and delivered a painful kick to Merci's back. The teen was sent flying forward, tumbling across the ground.

"Merci!" Sakura gasped. She and the others turned to where he had been to see a new person standing near them. It was a girl that seemed to be in her early-twenties. Long blonde hair flowed down her back. She wore a skin-tight black bodysuit. On her face was a mask of the same color, it's design akin to a master thief.

"Everyone move!" Dan yelled. He surrounded his arms with blades of ice and went in on the attack. The woman quickly reacted though, dodging his attack and driving her knee into his gut. Dan felt the air rush out of his lungs from the painful blow.

"You'll need to do better than that, little boy." she said.

Hyde glared at the villain as he rushed at her with a punch. She had little difficulty evading it, as she grabbed the thrown arm and tossed Hyde over her shoulder, making his body slam painfully into the ground. As he endured the pain he felt, he slammed his hand onto the ground to create his territory.

The woman noticed the ground they were on begin to rise up in the form of a thin spike. She jumped back and avoided it. "Too slow."

"Damnit…" Hyde grunted as he and Dan both got to their feet. "What the hell is this chick's deal?"

"Why are you attacking us?!" Sakura asked. "We don't want any trouble."

"That's a shame. Cause a little black cat has just crossed your path." she said teasingly. "Although I prefer the name Cougar." She showed off her hands, where her nails extended out like claws.

"She's got a Quirk similar to Hikari's." Dan realized. "We should be careful of her speed."

"Speed won't be a factor if we can trap her!" Hyde grinned as he slammed his hand onto the ground. Earth began to rise up around Cougar as he attempted to form a cage.

Cougar quickly leaped away just in time to avoid being trapped. "Close one." she muttered under her breath.

"You can't run forever!" Hyde shouted. Keeping his hand on the ground, he tried to form prison after prison to trap their assailant.

Cougar was having little effort dodging Hyde's repeated assault. "You're too naive. I already saw what your Quirk can do, so I can watch out for it now. You would have been smarter to try and launch your first attack when my guard was down to surprise me."

"Damnit." Hyde growled. He stopped trying to trap her, knowing it was futile.

Sakura looked at their surroundings. It was night. There was no one around. They were all on their own against this opponent. Perhaps they could get away, but against someone this fast they wouldn't be able to get far.

"Sakura, we need your help!" Dan shouted. "Use the trees!"

Dan's shout snapped Sakura out of her thoughts. This wasn't the time to be thinking about how to get away. They had to fight. They had to be the heroes right now.

Sakura sharpened her focus and the nearby trees began to move at her will. They grew and their branches all shot towards Cougar.

'_A plant type Quirk, huh?'_ Cougar thought. She evaded the first branch that came at her, then ran along it, moving in towards the group. Sakura gasped as she closed the distance between them in mere seconds. Cougar brought out her claws and lunged at Sakura.

"Say goodnight, little girl!"

Sakura screamed in terror, but before Cougar could slash her, Dan quickly intercepted the attack. He brought out a large amount of water from his body and froze it to make a wall of ice.

"You alright, Sakura?" Dan asked.

"Dan?!" Sakura gasped.

"Tch, annoying little brat." Cougar growled. She jumped back, but found Lilina come at her with a punch. The hit connected, though it did little more than knock Panther back a bit before she regained her balance.

"Lilina what are you doing?!" Hyde exclaimed. "You shouldn't fight her like this! Your Quirk's no good without your support gear!"

"You don't really expect me to run, do you?" Lilina asked. "Besides, it's not like I'm helpless without my Quirk."

"Let's see if that holds true!" Cougar grinned. She rushed forward and shoved her elbow into Lilina's stomach. The blow knocked Lilina back and sent her flying into the side of a building.

"Lilina!" Hyde exclaimed.

"I thought you were supposed to be U.A. students." Cougar said. "Don't you know better than to give information to your opponent about who can and can't do what? I was expecting more."

'_Damnit…'_ Dan thought. '_We're up against a real villain. Someone with way more combat experience than us. We need to be smart if we're going to win.'_

"Merci, now!"

Suddenly, a long whip came out and wrapped itself around Cougar's arm. "What the?!" She look towards the whip's source and saw Merci was the one using it. Little doubt the whip was a flower he was using his Quirk on. Nene had been with him but was currently running at Panther.

Cougar swung her leg in for a kick, but Nene split herself into two with her Quirk, one of her leaping into the air over the kick while the other slid under. They both delivered an attack to Cougar at the same time, knocking her back. Merci pulled on his whip to bring her back over to the two Nenes, ready to land another blow.

"Not this time!" Cougar yelled. She tugged on her arm as hard as she could and pulled Merci forward, making him lose his balance and fall over. She then blocked the two attacks coming from Nene and her clone, and knocked both back at once. Cougar slashed her claw at the flower whip and freed herself, but before she could attack Nene again, Sakura sent a tree her way, which made her jump away to put some distance between them.

"Are you alright, Nene?" Sakura asked as she and Dan ran over to her. Hyde was busy checking on Lilina, who was still shaking off the hit from earlier.

"I'm fine." Nene said. She said her next words in a low whisper. "We need to buy time right now. I sent a clone off towards the police station when she wasn't looking. Help should arrive soon."

"Good thinking." Dan said.

Cougar let out a sigh. "You know, I was expecting this to be more fun. There's six of you and you can't even take on little old me? I guess U.A. must really be lowering its standards."

"Shut your mouth!" Hyde yelled as he sent a pillar made of the street's gravel her way. "You're dealing with the future Number 1 Hero!"

Cougar giggled as she dodged his attack. "And that's supposed to be you? Don't make me laugh."

"Damnit…" Hyde growled, his anger reaching its peak. He sent more and more attacks her way. "Just go down already you damn bitch!"

"Hmmmm, well aren't you feisty?" she teased. In the corner of her eye, she caught Dan rushing at her. She tried to attack him, but before it could connect, he threw himself around her. He brought out as much water as he could from his body and froze it, trapping her with him.

"Hyde, now! Throw up a cage around us!" Dan shouted.

Hyde read Dan's mind. He used his Quirk and bars rose up from the ground, preparing to form a dome-shaped prison.

"Get off me!" Cougar said angrily as she slammed her legs onto the ground. The ice began to crack, making Dan wince in pain. He lost his hold on her and Cougar managed to leap out of the cage right before it formed.

'_Damnit. To think she cracked my ice. And with that being part of my body, it really hurts.'_ Dan thought as he tried to shake off the pain he was in.

Cougar took a moment to try and catch her breath. '_They nearly got me there. That was too close.'_ She fixed her gaze on Hyde. '_His Quirk is the most annoying one. I need to deal with him first.'_ Quickly kicking off the ground, she ran at Hyde.

"You want me? Come and get me." Hyde said. He sent another few chunks of the ground flying at Cougar. She not only dodged them, but managed to jump off them and spring towards Hyde.

'_Shit!'_ Hyde thought as he saw her bring out her claws.

"You'll be the first one to die!" Cougar grinned.

"Hyde, look out!" Sakura exclaimed.

There was no time for him to dodge or block. Hyde could only stand there as Panther closed in, ready to tear him to shreds. '_Crap… Not like this…'_

Out of nowhere however, a new figure suddenly emerged. They came flying in and sent a vicious punch to Cougar's cheek. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Cougar was sent flying. Her body tumbled across the road.

Everyone looked at the new arrival. They had a hood over their head so it was impossible to make out their face. However, a few streaks of long silver hair flowed out from the hood. Part of the person's arms were harrier with what almost seemed like fur that was the same color as their hair.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Cougar asked. "You're interrupting my hunt."

The person made no verbal response. Instead, they took a stance, ready to fight.

"Fine then. I'll just kill you first." Cougar said. She took off running towards the new opponent. "Die!"

The group stayed back as this new arrival prepared themselves to fight. Cougar lunged at them, but they quickly ducked under and avoided a swipe from the villain's claws. They then sent a swift uppercut to Cougar's jaw, making a solid hit. As Cougar fell back, the mystery figure then spun themself around before delivering a kick to the villain. Cougar kept her balance however and sprung right back. It quickly became a fast paced hand to hand combat fight between the two of them.

"You're not half bad." Cougar said. "But you're still weak." Quickly swinging her legs at the hooded figure's feet, she tripped them over. As they fell back, Cougar grabbed them by the face and slammed them into the ground. The students gasped as their savior was taken down in a brief instant.

Cougar breathed heavily, her stamina beginning to reach its limit. She brought out her claws as she looked down at the unconscious person. "You're going to pay for getting in my way."

"Don't you dare!" Dan shouted, throwing a punch from a long arm of water with the hand turned to ice.

Cougar leaped back, watching as Dan came over and stood protectively in front of the person. She smirked when she saw Dan's weak stance. "You shouldn't push yourself. You're clearly injured."

"Doesn't matter." Dan said, wincing in pain. "Putting yourself in danger… for the sake of others… is the essence of being a hero."

"Fine then. In the end, you'll be dead anyw-" Cougar stopped talking when her ears caught the sound of sirens heading their way. "Tch the cops. Guess I played around too much." She turned and quickly fled. "You got lucky, you brats."

Dan fell to his knees as the villain fled. They had managed to make it out of that fight, even though they were injured. But in all honesty, they could hardly call this a victory. If anything, they had just been lucky.

"Dan, are you alright?" Sakura asked as she and the others ran over.

"Yeah. I'll live." Dan confirmed. He turned towards the fallen hooded figure. "I'm more concerned about-" The rest of his sentence died on his tongue as he looked at the unconscious person. The moonlight shined on them, making their face visible. He widened his eyes. He recognized who it was.

As Sakura and the others ran over, they too looked at the person who had saved them and widened their eyes at who it was. It was a teenage girl. Her hair was a different color, and they didn't recall her having fur on her arms, but there was no mistaking that face. It was someone they all knew.

Alicia Tsuki.

* * *

The injuries the group had suffered in their fight against Cougar had luckily been fairly minor. They were mostly covered with scrapes and bruises that would all heal on their own. After being brought to the hospital to get checked out, their parents had been called. All of them were thankful that everyone was alright, though it was still scary to think of their kids being attacked by a villain.

The one they were most concerned about was Alicia.

Her injuries weren't anything serious. Like the others, she would heal given some rest. But that still hadn't explained her sudden appearance. Or the silver hair and claws she suddenly had, not to mention the distortions of her head to look more beast-like. They had all known her Quirk to have nothing to do with such things.

Alicia was laying in bed when her six classmates walked in. They were all relieved to see her awake.

"Are you alright, Alicia?" Sakura asked.

Alicia looked away from the others. "Yeah… I'm fine."

The group looked at each other, wondering why she was acting so distant to them. "You sure you're alright?" Nene asked.

"I said I'm fine!" she shouted, startling her classmates. "Just get it over with already."

"Get what over with?" Dan asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean. Go on. Joke about how I look like some weird freak. How I'm like a werewolf." she looked at all of them with a glare as she pulled down her sleeve to show the fur along her arms. "That's what you came here for right? To make fun of me!"

"Woah, slow down Alicia." Lilina told her. "None of us came here to make fun of you. Why would we do that?"

"Yeah. You kinda saved our necks." Nene added. "We wanted to thank you and make sure you were doing alright."

"Yeah. Sure you did." Alicia muttered.

"What the heck is your problem?" Hyde asked. "We come in here to check up on you and you act like a jerk? That's some gratitude you've got."

"You don't get it!" Alicia shouted at him. "Do you have any idea how hard I was trying to hide this part of myself?! And now everyone's going to know! It'll be junior high all over again!"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Lilina asked. "You're not making any sense."

Alicia frowned as she kept her gaze low. "I told you all my Quirk allowed me to absorb sunlight and fire it off as energy blasts, right? Well that's only half true. My body can also absorb moonlight, but it has a different effect on me."

**[Alicia Tsuki. Quirk: Sunlight & Moonlight. Her body automatically takes in sunlight and moonlight and stores it in her body. For sunlight, she can fire off the energy stored in her in the forms of energy blasts. For moonlight, her body transforms into a semi-beast-like state. The time her transformed form lasts is dependent on how much moonlight that's being absorbed.]**

"So moonlight turns you into… this?" Dan asked.

"Yes." Alicia said. "The kids at my school used to think my Quirk was so cool. But they only saw the sunlight part of it. Then one day, when they found out about what moonlight does to me, everything changed. The prettier girls at school looked at me like a freak, saying I was an ugly loser. I lost most of my friends."

Sakura frowned as she heard this. "That must have been really tough. I'm sorry."

"Why? You guys aren't going to do the same? You're not going to tell everyone about how disgusting I look once the moon comes out?"

The group all looked at each other. "Well I personally don't see the issue about it, but if you don't want the others to know, we won't tell them." Dan said.

Alicia widened her eyes. "What?"

"Yeah. You're clearly really sensitive about this." Nene said. "I mean I doubt anyone in class would treat you differently, but I'll keep it a secret if it means that much to you."

"Me too." Sakura nodded. "I'm the Class Representative of Class 1-C after all. It's important for me to respect the wishes of my fellow classmates."

"I'll keep your secret. And to be nice, I'll even make it free of charge." Lilina grinned.

"Oui. As a true gentleman, I will make sure your secret is kept." Merci added.

"You guys…" Alicia said, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"We're sorry your friends from junior high turned out to be such jerks." Dan said. "But you can trust us Alicia. With or without this other side of you, you're still our friend."

Tears formed in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away with her arm. "Thank you."

"By the way, how'd you even know we were in trouble in the first place?" Hyde asked. "Weren't you going to the train station before us?"

"Well I was." Alicia said. "But while I was at the station waiting for the next train, I heard something going on not too far away. My senses are a bit sharper at night due to my semi-beast form. I hurried over and saw you guys fighting that villain."

"Heh, well it was nice of you to show up. But even if you hadn't, I would have handled the situation." Hyde said confidently.

Dan rolled his eyes. "And yet who was it she saved from getting attacked when she showed up?"

"I… I was getting her to lower her guard!" Hyde argued. "And it was working perfectly too!"

"Uh huh. Sure." Nene said. "Well I guess we can keep Hyde getting his butt kicked like the rest of us a secret too."

The group shared a small laugh at Hyde's expense, much to the teen's displeasure. After being discharged from the hospital, they were asked a few more questions from the police to make sure they had the full story. Once they were done with that, each of them were sent home with their family. But each of them knew one thing very clearly. This incident with Cougar had taught them all something. A lesson that couldn't be learned in the classroom.

They learned just how dangerous villains could be when they were serious.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello again, readers. Happy New Year. And with a new year comes the start of a new arc for this story. Hope you all enjoy it.**

With the weekend finally over, another school week was in session. For many, it was business as usual. Students walked through the front gates and made their way to class, chatting with others as they walked.

There were a select few however that felt anything but normal. Alicia was one such person as she walked into class. The fight she and some of her classmates had been in with the villain named Cougar just last night was still fresh in her mind. On top of that, part of her Quirk had been revealed to those same students. It was a part of her she had tried desperately to hide. But thankfully, they had promised to keep it a secret and didn't seem like they were bothered by it in the slightest. She had no way of knowing yet if they would keep that promise, but she was at least glad they hadn't outright said they wouldn't.

"Hey Alicia!" Jill greeted with her usual smile when she noticed the girl walk into class. "Morning!"

"Good morning." Alicia greeted back.

"Yesterday was a lot of fun! We should totally all get together like that again, don't you think?"

Alicia nodded her head. "Sure. Sounds like a great idea."

As Alicia walked over to her seat, she noticed Sakura whisper over to her. "Are you alright? About… last night?"

Alicia nodded her head. "Yeah. My injuries aren't anything too serious. What about you?"

"The same. I guess we were pretty lucky."

Lucky was an understatement. If the police hadn't shown up when they did, there was no telling what might have happened. All of them were fortunate just to be alive.

As time slowly passed, more and more of Class 1-C walked into class. When it was nearing close towards the time for homeroom to start, Sakura told everyone to take their seats. The rest of the class complied, not wanting to see the girl's angry side anytime soon.

As the homeroom bell rang, Yamagori walked into the room. She sat at her desk with her feet up on the table like usual. "Alright then. We've got a couple of announcements to get through so keep quiet while I explain them. For those of you that haven't heard, there's a field trip coming up."

The mention of a field trip nearly got the entire class to jump for joy and excitement. But one stare from Yamagori quickly got them to stay calmly sitting in their seats.

"Our destination is Hero Support Industries, HSI for short." Yamagori explained. "They make lots of support items for heroes and other crap. The school thinks it will be a good chance for all of you brats to get ideas for items and gear that may help support your Quirks. Though personally, if you can't even come up with that on your own, I don't know what you're even doing here in U.A."

'_Is she ever going to give us any kind of encouragement for once?'_ the entire class thought collectively.

"The trip's in one week. Pick up a permission slip and have it signed by your parents or guardians before then." she continued. "Oh, and one last thing. The following students are to report to the main office after class today. Dan Hiryo, Alicia Tsuki, Sakura Avalon, Hyde Gekido, Nene Fukasa, Merci Boqu, and Lilina Yoake."

The seven students each tensed up at hearing their names called. It was no doubt to talk about the attack from last night. But with them being singled out like this, nearly every eye in class fell on them.

"That's it for announcements. Now shut up and let's start class."

Morning classes started and progressed. Throughout it though, there were many students wondering what it was that seven of their classmates were getting called down to the office for. Nothing was said since it was class time. But once lunchtime came, the seven students were the topic of conversation at the lunch table. It didn't take long before they were forced to spill the beans.

"What?! You mean you fought an actual villain?!" Fiona gasped.

"Yeah. She came and attacked us on our way home from the arcade yesterday." Dan explained with a sigh. "We managed to fight her off until the police arrived."

"I hope none of you were hurt." Jill said.

"Just a few minor scrapes and bruises." Lilina assured them. "Nothing serious."

"So this villain took on all seven of you? What were they like?" Marcus asked.

"It was a girl. Mid-twenties if I had to guess." Sakura told them. She looked over at Hikari. "Her Quirk was actually a lot like Hikari's. She had cat traits and everything."

"Really?" Hikari questioned.

"Well-" Shiro said as he scoffed down his lunch. "-in any case, we're glad you guys are ok. That's what matters."

No one could argue with that. Class 1-C continued to eat lunch together as they changed the topic of conversation. The office meeting however still weighed heavily on the minds of the seven students. But there was no getting around it.

* * *

"Now then…" Principal Nezu said as he sat in his chair, looking at the seven Class 1-C students. Several teacher were also gathered for the meeting. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you why you were all called down here, correct?"

"It's about our fight with the villain last night, right?" Sakura asked.

Nezu nodded his head. "That is indeed correct. The police gave us the details on what exactly occured. You were suddenly attacked by a lone villain, fought with her while trying to alert the police, and she got away once help showed up. Am I correct so far?"

"Yes sir." the seven of them nodded.

"Normally, using your Quirks to fight anyone, even villains, would be considered a crime." Nezu told them. "In this case however, it was self defense and there were clearly no serious injuries to the villain since she got away so easily. So you won't have to worry about that."

"No serious injuries. He makes it sound like we couldn't lay a scratch on her." Hyde mumbled. He was quickly shut up though when Nene elbowed him.

"As much as I'd like this conversation to stay positive… there is one other matter to discuss." Nezu said. "The area where you kids fought received some rather extensive damage. There were chunks of road ripped up and trees deformed." The principal cast his gaze on Hyde and Sakura. "I would assume that was from your Quirks, correct Miss Avalon and Mister Gekido?"

"Yes sir." Sakura frowned.

"I hope you realize the trouble things like this can cause." Nezu told them.

"What were we supposed to do? Stand around and get our asses handed to us?" Hyde argued. "We fought to defeat a villain. Isn't that the point of being a hero?"

Nezu sighed and shook his head. "While it is true that a hero's job often involves fighting villains, that does not mean they are allowed to subdue them by whatever they see fit. A hero's job is first and foremost to protect others and society in general."

"But-"

"Tell me Mister Gekido, with all of the times heroes fight villains on the news, how often do you hear about there being extensive damage to the surroundings caused by heroes?" Nezu asked. The silence he heard from Hyde was all the answer he needed. "The reason you don't see much damage as a whole is because pros are able to fight villains while keeping damage to the surrounding area to a minimum. Being a hero is about more than winning fights, you must remember that."

"... Understood." Hyde said with his head lowered.

"Now then, fortunately the damage was small enough where some pro heroes and construction crews were able to patch up things already. And considering the circumstances, there won't be any charges against you all." Nezu said. "However, I want you all to take this experience and learn from it. Let it mold you into better heroes-in-training as you continue your education here."

"Yes sir." the seven of them said.

All Might stood up from his seat. "You children fought against a real villain and came out relatively unscathed. That is an achievement to be proud of. I look forward to how you improve."

Hearing praise from the legendary All Might helped brighten the moods of the students. They all made sure to take the advice from him and the principal to heart.

"That is all. You can all go home for the day." Nezu told them. "Be careful on your way home."

With that, the seven students left the room. Now it was just the principal and the other teachers. With the children gone, they could talk about the more pressing concerns bothering them.

"The villains are becoming increasingly active." Nezu said with a serious expression. "First the attack on USJ, and now this. We need to begin investigating the leader of the group of villains that attacked USJ. These incidents might be connected."

"Speaking of the USJ incident…" Present Mic said. "There's something that needs to be discussed."

Midnight narrowed her eyes. "Mic…"

"The group of villains that attacked knew at what exact time All Might was supposed to be teaching a class there." Present Mic said. "Nobody on the outside could have had access to that information. We need to consider the possibility of a traitor here."

"You can't be serious!" Snipe argued. "You honestly think there's someone here that would betray U.A.? Betray the hero society?"

"Can you say the possibility doesn't exist?"

Mic's words brought the atmosphere down in the room. The teachers all grimaced at the thought of a possible traitor. And most couldn't help but consider one person in particular.

"Oh just say it already." Yamagori said with a roll of her eyes. "You all think I'm the traitor. Am I wrong?"

"Now hold on, Sienna-"

"No, it's fine Nezu. It's the logical conclusion after all." she shrugged, clearly annoyed. "I'm the only one here with a criminal record. And my job here here is part of my parole. So naturally, I must be the traitor. No one can trust me after all." She got up from her seat. "Well I'll let you all right now. I have not betrayed this school. The only thing I want to do is get this year over with while keeping a clean slate so I can go on with my life. I doubt any of you will believe me though." She turned to the door and walked out.

Nezu called for Sienna to stop. "Sienna-"

"Don't worry. I'll give you all privacy to talk about what to do with your horrible traitor." Yamagori said as she closed the door behind her.

Ectoplasm looked over at Present Mic. "Did you really need to mention the thought of a traitor?"

"I'm not saying there definitely is one or that she's it. But we need to consider the possibility. And if there is a traitor, you can't deny that she's the most suspicious." Mic told him.

"She's not exactly a model teacher." Vlad added. "Why did you agree to let her teach here anyway, Principal Nezu?"

Nezu got up from his seat and looked out the window, his back facing the teachers. "I know Sienna doesn't have the same reputation as most of you. But she is still a U.A graduate. And I have full belief that she would never betray us."

"Why is that?"

"Because whether or not she realizes it yet, she still has that yearning to be a hero. To make a difference in people's lives." Nezu told them. "So I don't want to hear anymore talk of traitors and such. If we cannot trust each other, then the villains win."

"I too trust the principal." All Might added. "It is true that Yamagori may be… harsh at times. But I believe she is trying to show her students the harshness of the real world in her own way. That too is an important thing for them to learn."

"Whatever you say." Present Mic sighed. "Anyway, we're still doing the field trip to HSI, right?"

"Of course." Nezu nodded. "Let's discuss details about that for now."

* * *

Yamagori walked into her apartment room and slammed the door shut. "Ugh, stupid pretentious heroes. Why am I always dealing with crap I didn't ask for?"

She had so much hope for her life after graduating from U.A. She would become a top-rate hero, be treated like a celebrity, and things would go perfectly. But no one seemed to notice her. No matter how hard she tried or how much effort she put into her job as a hero people still focussed on the big famous heroes all over the news. She was insignificant to them.

She still had no clue why Nezu asked her to be a teacher for the year. She didn't care either in all honesty. Once this school year was over and done with, she would be done with heroes. She would go and do whatever it was she could find and live the rest of her days in peace.

Yamagori collapsed onto her bed and sighed. "Freaking hell. Why did I ever want to become a hero?"

"That's a good question."

The sudden voice made Yamagori jump. She turned to face the intruder in her room, prepared to fight, only to be surprised by who she saw.

Sitting comfortably in a chair was a bulky man in his mid-thirties. He had white hair and brown eyes. Coming out from the back of his shoulders were two steam pipes. He smirked as he looked at Yamagori.

"Long time no see."

"Overdrive." Yamagori glared. "The hell do you want?"

"Oh come now? Is that any way to treat an old friend?" he asked.

"Tch, friend? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember you getting away while I got arrested."

Yamagori remembered it like it was yesterday. With her struggling career as a hero, she was getting short on cash. That was when she was suddenly approached by a villain named Overdrive. He wanted her help in a robbery. Her Quirk that allowed her to paralyze others was a useful one. It was supposed to be a simple one-time gig. She would paralyze any cops or heroes that tried to stop them, and she'd get a cut of the profits. That's how it was supposed to go. But to their misfortune, they had gotten taken by surprise from a hero in pursuit. She was restrained before she could even react. The only one in the group to get away was the leader of the operation. Overdrive.

The villain shrugged in response. "Hey, what can I say? Things went south, so I made a run for it. It's everyone for themselves in this competitive society."

"Unbelievable." she said with a roll of her eyes. "So what the hell do you want from me after all this time?"

"I hear you're a teacher at U.A now? Gotta say, I'm rather surprised about that."

"Don't read into it much. I just got cut a deal. I teach there for a year and keep my nose clean, and I get to be free. Simple as that." she said.

"Heh, I find that hard to believe. But whatever." Overdrive said. "I'll cut to the chase. I got word that U.A has a field trip coming up to HSI Industries. That true?"

"It is. What about it?"

"Well it just so happens me and my crew are planning a raid on that place. That place has some pretty sweet support items that can help when facing villains, or in my case heroes. There's even rumor about a super powerful support item that's shipping out of there soon." he explained. "Now we've got most of the infiltration down pat, but the tight security they have still makes it risky. That's where you come in."

"Nuh uh. No way. Forget it." Yamagori said. "I want no part of this."

"It's simple. All you gotta do is act as an inside mole. You'll lead the class to an ambush, my crew takes a few hostages to make sure no one interferes, then we get away while no one knows you were a part of it. I can give you a cut later." Overdrive said. "See? You won't get in any trouble. Not a bad deal, right?"

"Maybe you didn't hear me." Yamagori said. "I'm. Not. Interested."

"Seriously? What, are you suddenly thinking you belong with those heroes now? Don't you remember how shitty your life was before I showed up?"

"I'm not a hero. I don't care one bit about those idiots. I just don't want to take any risks. All I want is to get this year over and done with. Then I can move on with my life." she told him. "Look, I won't tell anyone about your little heist you have planned. But in return, please just leave me and my class out of it. It's just gonna lead to more trouble for me."

"You're serious? Last chance."

"I'm serious." Yamamgori said, lying back down on her bed. "Now please get out of here. If anyone catches us talking, it's gonna be a giant headache for me."

Overdrive sighed as he sat up. "Fine, fine. I'm going." he said. "Due to our little past history working together, I'll respect your wish not to involve you or your class. Just make sure you don't get in our way."

"Fine by me."

With that, Overdrive left and Yamagori was alone once again. She let out a frustrated sigh as she stared up at the ceiling. '_Why does my life have to keep getting more and more complicated? Can't I catch a break?'_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Another month, another chapter. Hope you all like it, readers.**

"Alright students, single file. Stay together."

The first year students of U.A. got off the buses as they arrived in front of Hero Support Industries, or HSI for short. The building was rather large, stretching out along a wide area of space. Fitting for one of the biggest support item producers in Japan. Towards the right, the students could see what seemed to be a factory, likely the place where all the items were actually developed.

The homeroom teachers for each of the three classes were present with their respective classes. Though the sight of Eraser Head completely bandaged up like a mummy was still a little unnerving for the students. It looked liked he still belonged in the hospital after the injuries he sustained during the villain attack at USJ.

"Alright Class A, let's show proper etiquette befitting this school." a male student with glasses said, getting Class 1-A in order.

Seeing the boy take charge of his class, Sakura knew she needed to do the same. "E-Everyone, please line up orderly."

Class 1-C all got together and lined up as they exited the bus. Even the rowdy ones like Hyde obeyed, not wanting to incur Sakura's wrath if she got mad.

"Welcome everyone." a woman said, coming to greet the three first year hero classes. "We're very excited to have you all here today. We here at HSI do our utmost to assist the hardworking pro heroes with their noble duty. We hope your time here will help you understand that even the mightiest of heroes can benefit with the help of the proper tools. If you have any questions during the tour, please feel free to ask. We'll be splitting up into three groups, one with each class, and taking different tour routes."

The three classes were each lead away by an attendant as they walked into the main building. As they went inside, Yamagori kept her senses sharp, looking around for anything suspicious. She knew Overhaul and his goons were planning a heist here. And she wanted to do everything in her power to stay as far away from it as possible. She couldn't care less about whatever it was they wanted. She just wanted to stay away from any trouble.

"Any ideas on what you might be on the lookout for?" Sarah asked Marcus.

"Not sure. My current suit basically covers all my needs." Marcus said. "But who knows? Maybe this tour will give me an idea for improvement. What about you?"

"It's the same for me." she said.

"I might try and see if they have anything that could help me." Lilina said. "As it stands, my marbles have to be thrown by me. But if I had something I could use to fire them off, they'd be way more powerful."

"Don't you have to physically touch them to change them though?" Fiona asked. "And the change doesn't last too long, right?"

"That's the main issue for me. Hopefully there'll be something here that gives me inspiration." Lilina said. "Besides, we're given an allowance from the school to spend for this kind of stuff. And I never waste good money."

In the distance, a man in a business suit watched the three classes go their separate ways. He turned away and pressed a finger against his right ear. "The students are here, boss. Eraser Head and Vlad seem to be the teachers of the other two classes."

"_Good. Where are they headed?"_ a voice said from his earpiece.

"They're splitting up it seems. Eraser Head's class is going towards the showroom where they've got their classics. Vlad's is going up to the second floor it looks like. And the last class seems to be moving towards the testing grounds."

"_Follow Vlad. With Eraser Head all bandaged up, he's gonna be our only real threat."_ the person on the other end said. "_We'll proceed as planned."_

"What about the woman with the other class? Can't she paralyze anyone she looks at?"

"_Sienna's not going to cause any trouble. She's not a real hero like the rest. Just be ready to move once the operation begins."_

"Understood, boss." the man said as he casually walked after Class 1-A. '_By the end of this, we're gonna be swimming in awesome gear. And that's gonna sell for a ton of cash.'_

* * *

"So as you can see here, we put all our items through extensive testing to confirm their usefulness in the field." the tour guide explained. "We here at HSI take great pride in making sure our items are of the highest quality."

Class 1-C walked through the testing grounds, seeing several items being tested. It was a wide open room, similar to a gymnasium. In one area, a shooter-type weapon's power was being tested by firing it at blocks of concrete. In another area, a grappling wire's durability was being tested as someone hung in the air with it hooked to the top of a wall. The variety of tests being performed was impressive.

"While not all heroes utilize support items, it has shown in the field that they can help heroes overcome their weaknesses." she explained.

The students all listened attentively, hoping to get some inspiration from the experience. Yamagori didn't care much for the lecture, a bored expression clear as day on her face. She remembered being starry eyed like they were. Full of excitement and passion. Then she went out into the real world and reality hit her like a ton of bricks. They would likely all end up the same.

'_If only this year would be over and done with.'_ Yamagori thought to herself.

"Now then, over here we-" the tour guide was cut off as an alarm sounded suddenly. Everyone stopped what they were doing, startled by the alarm.

"What's going on?" Jill asked.

Before anyone else could do anything, a figure came speeding at the group. He had wheels where his feet should have been, likely his Quirk. He sped past them, grabbing Vivi in the process. He skidded to a halt and held Vivi in a lock, pointing a blaster-type weapon to her head.

"Vivi!" Nene exclaimed.

Several students quickly got ready to fight, but stopped as the stranger reminded them of the weapon in his hand. "I don't think so. Don't make a move unless you want this one's head blown off."

Vivi trembled with fear, unable to do anything. The students all stood down, not willing to risk their classmate getting killed. Soon, several people came into the room, all holding weapons. They surrounded Class 1-C with their weapons pointed at them.

"I'm glad to see you all understand the situation." he smirked. "No need to be scared. Just do as we say and nobody has to get hurt."

"Who the hell are you losers?" Hyde glared.

"We're just a merry little band of villains." he said with a chuckle. "You know, the kind you wannabe heroes are supposed to be able to stop."

"Let Vivi go!" Alicia told him.

"Or what?" he asked. "You all are in a poor position to make demands. Do yourselves a favor and stay quiet while we do our work."

"What do you want?" Dan asked.

"Well I could explain that." he said. "But our boss likes to be dramatic." The sound of the speakers caught everyone's attention. "And there he is now."

"People of HSI, I wish you all a fine day." a man spoke.

Yamagori tensed up, recognizing the voice. '_Overdrive…'_

"As of this moment, the entire facility is under my control. As such, I would advise not trying any heroics." Overdrive said. "Once we have what we came for, we'll be on our merry way and you can all return to your daily lives."

The students all tensed up. They wanted to do something, but they couldn't risk it with Vivi being held hostage.

"All outside contact has been cut off, so don't bother trying to call for help." Overdrive explained. "Anyone caught trying to escape will be killed, so keep that in mind. Now then, I'm a busy man so I must bid you all a good day while I go to collect what I came here for."

With that, the speakers went silent. Yamagori grit her teeth, but not enough for it to show. '_Damnit, Overdrive. I said don't get my class involved. Should have expected that dirtbag to do this.'_

"What's the matter? You look annoyed, Medusa." the villain holding Vivi said with a grin. "That was your hero name, wasn't it?"

Yamagori widened her eyes. '_He knows?!'_

"The boss told us about your little history with him. As well as how your Quirk works." he explained. "Man, to think U.A. would hire someone with a criminal record. Their standards sure are dropping."

"Wait, criminal record?" Sarah questioned. All of the students turned their heads to Yamagori. "What's he talking about?"

"Oh you all don't know? Can't say I'm surprised." he said. "See that teacher of yours is technically a U.A. graduate. But she ended up participating in a robbery two years after graduating. She got busted and now she's teaching at U.A as part of her punishment."

Yamagori felt the eyes of all of Class 1-C fall on her. They all looked at her with shock and disbelief.

"Ms. Yamagroi… is that true?" Jill asked.

Yamagori turned her gaze away from them. "I…"

"Are you kidding me?! You're a criminal?!" Marcus said.

"Well now we see why you never took teaching seriously." Hyde glared.

"Just shut up!" Yamagori shouted, silencing them. "I didn't ask for this job! I was offered an opportunity, and I took it! It's simple as that! You brats need to learn that the real world isn't all sunshine and roses!"

"Aw, did I mess up class morale?" the villain asked sarcastically. "My bad. But man, it must suck having such a failure of a hero as a teacher."

Yamagori clenched her fists. It was supposed to be so simple. Teach at U.A. for a year and then she could move on with her life. And just like that, it had all come crumbling down. There was no way she would be allowed to keep teaching now that the students knew her past. Parents would never be ok with a criminal teaching their children. She'd be forced to quit and it'd be back to jail for her.

'_Why does life constantly try to screw with me? I didn't ask for any of this. I just wanted to keep my nose clean and get through the year. Why? It's not fair.'_

* * *

"Well this is a crummy situation to be in?" Kaminari said.

Class 1-A looked stood together, completely surrounded by villains. Right after the alarm had sounded, they appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them. Then they heard the speech from Overdrive and finally got an idea as to what was going on.

"Screw these losers. I'm gonna blast them all away." Bakugo said as he readied himself to fight.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." one of the villains said with a grin. "Unless you want this poor girl getting hurt."

Suddenly a video screen popped up next to the villain, likely the result of his or someone else's Quirk. The video showed Class 1-C in similar position as them. What was different however was that one of them was being held hostage by the villains.

'_Damn. Seems one of the students got captured.'_ Aizawa thought to himself. '_We can't make a move like this without risking her safety.'_

"Tch. Damnit." Bakugo grunted. Even he knew better than to act if there was a hostage.

The video disappeared and the villain confidently looked at Class 1-A. "The third class you guys have are in a similar position. Remember when the boss said not to do any heroics? This was why."

"What do we do?" Uraraka asked in a low whisper.

"What can we do?" Yaoyorozu replied. "If there's one of us hostage, we can't risk their safety."

"First the USJ thing and now this. It isn't fair." Mineta complained.

"It's ridiculous how easy it is to make pros powerless." the villain chuckled. "It's about time you losers got put in your place."

'_They knew about the field trip and trapped us perfectly. These guys planned this well in advance.'_ Aizawa realized. '_But for them to attack on a day where there will be pros here… they must be really desperate to get their hands on something here. This isn't just to grab a bunch of different gear. They're after something specific. But what?'_

* * *

Class 1-C stood together, no one making a move. It had been roughly ten minutes since the announcement by Overdrive was made. They were surrounded by villains and one of their classmates was being held right in front of them as a hostage. At this rate, the villains were going to win without them being able to do anything.

"This sucks." Shiro grunted. "We can't seriously just let these guys get away with this, can we?"

"As long as Vivi's being held captive, we're stuck." Daiki said. "It sucks to admit it, but we can't do anything."

"Too bad we don't have a pro with us." Hyde muttered. "All we've got is our sham of a teacher."

Yamagori ignored the verbal jab at her. '_What the hell do they expect from me? It's not like I'm All Might or anything. I'm not a hero. And besides, me taking action would endanger them. I can't be blamed for this.'_

"So kiddies, how does it feel to get a glimpse of what the real world is like?" the villain holding Vivi asked. "You all think heroes are so tough and cool. But following moral codes gives them weaknesses that can be easily exploited. And that's why at the end of the day heroes are nothing but a bunch of idiots running around to give a false sense of peace and order."

"You're just a bunch of cowards! Don't try and act tough!" Jill said. "You need a hostage or none of this would have been possible!"

"All true. But in the end the cowards tend to be the ones that survive." he said with a grin.

Yamagori simply wanted all of this to be over. She was screwed either way. Maybe she should have taken Overdrive up on his offer before.

'_No. It's that kind of thinking that got you arrested in the first place.'_ she thought to herself. Her eyes glanced at Vivi's. The young girl was completely terrified. That was all too clear in her expression. '_Damnit, don't look at me like that. Those eyes wanting someone to save them.'_

Yamagori wanted to believe that if they simply behaved and did nothing then they would all be safe. But she knew Overdrive too well. The second they let Vivi go, they would have no more leverage and the pros would be all over them in minutes. They would likely take Vivi with them as they made their escape. Everyone else would survive. But Vivi? She'd end up dead for sure. That was how Overdrive operated.

'_Why do I care? It's common sense, isn't it? Save one person or save everyone but one person. I can't be blamed for that. It's the logical conclusion.'_ Yamagori clenched her fists. '_Then why… Why do I want there to be a way to save all of them so badly? I'm not one of those stupid heroes.'_

Memories flooded through Yamagori. Her time at U.A. back when she was a student. How envious she was of pro heroes. How much she wanted to be like them. The time and effort she put into trying to reach those heights. She was just like every one of the students in her class. Aspiring heroes. Wanting to make a difference in society.

'_And I can't just let one of those aspiring heroes die on my watch.'_ she told herself. Yamagori examined the villains surrounding them discreetly. '_Eight people in total, including the one who's got Vivi. Six of them have long range weapons and the rest have short range ones. I can likely hit three of them with my Quirk before they react. That leaves five more.'_

"Gekido. When I tell you to, throw up a cage around the two guys in the back without guns." Yamagori said in a hushed whisper so the villains wouldn't overhear her.

Hyde narrowed his eyes at the teacher. "Why the hell should I listen to you?"

"Because if we don't stop them here, Pixi is dead." she told him. "Do you want that to happen when you could have done something?" She glanced at Shinobu and Sarah. "Radcliffe at the same time, you warp to the one at our ten o'clock and take him out from behind. Reikon, you use your Quirk to discreetly take out the one at four o'clock." Finally she glanced at Alicia. "Tsuki, think you have enough sunlight in you to hit one of them hard enough to knock them down?"

"I think so." Alicia whispered.

"Good. Wait until I say to act." Yamagori told them. She took a deep breath. They needed to time this perfectly. If they didn't, one of them could end up getting seriously hurt. It was a little risky, but if these kids were able to pass U.A's entrance exam, then they weren't pushovers.

Yamagori looked at the villain holding Vivi to get his attention. The second their eyes locked, she activated her Quirk and paralyzed him. She then quickly glanced left and right, managing to hit two other villains with her Quirk.

"What the? My body?" the one holding Vivi quickly realized what happened to him. "Shit! Get th-"

"Now!" Yamagori shouted.

In that split second, Class 1-C sprung into action. Hyde brought up a cage around the two short range villains, trapping them inside. Sarah teleported directly behind another villain and delivered a swift kick to the back of his head, knocking him out cold. Shinobu and Alicia already had their Quirks ready to fire, blasting the last two villains with their Quirks and knocking them off their feet. The others rushed and immobilized them, with Dan freezing one of them to the ground, and Shiro and Marcus holding the other one down. Yamagori rushed at the villain holding Vivi and knocked away his weapon, not willing to risk him regaining the slight about of movement that would be necessary to pull the trigger.

The second she was free, Vivi looked at her teacher with tears in her eyes. "Th-Thank you so much Ms. Yamagori! I… I was so scared!"

"Forget about it." she told her. "It wasn't that big of a deal." She walked over to the two villains her students were pinning down. "Hold them steady. They won't be moving around much longer."

One look from her eyes was all it took to paralyze both villains. She also used her Quirk on the ones in Hyde's cage to be safe. With that, all of the villains were either unconscious, or paralyzed.

"They won't be able to move for a few minutes." Yamagori said. She looked at the tour guide with them. "Is there anything around we can use to restrain them?"

"There should be a few support items around that can, yes." she nodded.

"Good. Hurry up and get them." she said. She looked at her class. "Get them all together. Then I want you to throw up a cage around them once they're restrained, Gekido."

A few minutes later, each of the villains were tied up or left imobile. With that, as well as Hyde's cage of earth around them, the chances of the villains breaking out were slim to none.

"Are you alright, Vivi?" Fiona asked.

"It was so scary…" Vivi said, still a little shaken from being held hostage. "Thank you all so much everyone."

"Well now that that's settled, you all are to stay put until help arrives." Yamagori told the students. "Got it? Not one of you leaves this room."

"What about you?" Lilina asked.

Yamagori turned around and walked to the exit. "I'm going to deal with the situation." She began to walk away, but she was soon stopped as Marcus spoke.

"With all due respect Ms. Yamagori, that's not happening."

Yamagori turned to her class. "What?"

"Look, we get that we're still students and all, but you can't possibly take on all the villains left on your own." Marcus said. "You needed our help to just take down these ones."

"He's right." Sakura said. "Let us help you."

"Listen, this isn't up for debate. I'm ordering you all to-"

"What's the matter, teach? Finally starting to care about us?" Hyde smirked. "Face it, the only way you stand a chance is with all our help."

Yamagori looked at the students. Each of them were determined to help save everyone. And as much as she hated to admit it, they did raise a fair point about the task at hand likely being too difficult for her to tackle alone. She sighed and gave in. "Fine. You all can come." She then gave the group a stern look. "But let's make one thing clear. You will all follow my exact instructions. Whatever I tell you to do, you do it. If you don't, you'll get paralyzed and left wherever the hell you may end up being. Understood?"

The class nodded in unison. "Yes ma'am."

Yamagori managed to hide a small smirk that formed on her lips. "Alright then. Let's show these villains that they messed with the wrong group."

"Right!"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello readers. Time for the final chapter of the HSI arc. Hope you all enjoy it. Also, saw Heroes Rising last week and it was AWESOME!**

Class 1-C snuck through the halls of HSI. Thankfully, with Overdrive's group needing three full squads to hold the three classes from U.A, they were rather short handed. Yamagori doubted that with those three squads and the group working on grabbing the support items, there would be much manpower left for standing guard.

As they reached a corner, Yamagori peeked a look at what was around. She noticed two villains standing guard. They were on high alert. It was likely they had someone watching all the security cameras and saw them deal with the villains in the training area. '_It was a smart move to take out any cameras we saw along the way. We need to keep them as blind as possible.'_

"There's two of them about fifty meters down the hall." she whispered. "Izumi, there's an outlet behind them. Think you can travel there and shock them from behind?"

"I think so." Daiki nodded.

"Good. The rest of us will get their attention and hold a defensive position." Yamagori instructed. "Once we do, it's up to you to hit them with a surprise attack."

Once everyone was ready, the class went into action. Yamagori revealed herself to make her presence known. The villains noticed her instantly.

"It's Medusa! Get her!" one of them shouted as he and his partner prepared to attack. Not long after they took off running however, Daiki emerged from the outlet near where they hand been standing. He reached out and touched both of their backs before turning his body into electricity once again. Both villains became electrocuted as they fell over.

"Nice job, Daiki!" Marcus said.

"Heh, it was nothing." Daiki grinned.

"Don't dawdle. We have to keep moving." Yamagori said as she ran on ahead. "The main control room should be just a little bit farther."

Class 1-C ran on ahead with their teacher. It was weird to them to see Yamagori acting like an actual role model, instructing them perfectly to best use their Quirks to deal with the villains. But with her help, they had managed to quickly take down each villain they had encountered in the building while keeping risk to themselves minimal.

"It should be right around here." Yamagori said. Finally they found the door they were looking for. "Here."

"Alright, let's hurry in there and do what we gotta do." Hyde said.

"Wait." Yamagori told him, holding him back with her arm. She soon heard a sound from the other end. "Everyone! Move away from the door! Now!"

Quickly obeying her instruction, the students each leaped away. Just in the nick of time as well as the door was burst open by a new villain. This one was rather muscular and had a beast-like appearance. A mutant type Quirk they could only assume.

"You've sure got some balls doing this after the boss's generous offer, Medusa!" the villain said as he went for her. "But now you're dead!"

"Ms. Yamagori!" Sakura exclaimed.

Acting quickly, Yamagori ducked under the hand that came for her and slipped past the villain with snake-like movements. As she did, she brought out a whip and hooked it around the villain's neck while pressing her foot against his back, choking him.

"You idiots with muscular Quirks are all the same. Always relying on brute strength." Yamagori said. "At least make your movements less predictable."

Within a minute, the villain passed out and Yamagori released her hold. She looked at the whip in her hand. "Not the same as the one I used in my pro days, but it'll do. Good thing this place has so many things to help heroes."

The rest of their class widened their eyes. A collective thought went through their minds. '_That was badass.'_

Yamagori entered the room. She saw a few workers tied up and gagged. "Get them free." she said.

The students quickly got to work on untying the workers and taking the gags out of their mouths. They were relieved to be free finally. "Thank you." they said.

"Can you get the audio system on?" Yamagori asked them. "We need to send a message to the rooms the other classes are in."

"Of course. But it'll go through the entire building. The villains elsewhere will hear it too." one of the workers explained.

"That's fine. We can deal with that." she said. "Just get it working so I can send a message."

The workers quickly got to work as they took their stations. They soon had everything set up. "Alright. It's ready."

Yamagori stepped forward to the mic. She took a deep breath. This would require quick action. But Aizawa and Vlad were pros. They wouldn't let a split second opportunity pass them by. Even with Aizawa bandaged up from the USJ attack, the small time villains wouldn't be hard to deal with since he had his students to help. She readied herself and yelled into the mic. "Eraser! Vlad! The hostage is safe! Take them out!"

It was clear that the villains were thrown off guard by the sudden announcement. But the very millisecond Yamagori finished her message, the two teachers sprung into action. With a bit of help from the students, the villains were quickly restrained.

There was no way for them to hear anything from the other side, making communication one way only. On top of that, they couldn't plan in advance since anything she said over the speaker system would be heard by Overdrive and his crew. That limited their options with how to deal with the situation. Right now, getting everyone out safely took priority.

One of the workers widened their eyes at something and their face became full of dread. "Oh no… The villains are going for _that_!"

"Hm?" Yamagori took a look at the security cameras. The one showing Overdrive seemed to be near a large vault. "What's in there?"

"It's a top secret support item that was going to be shipped out tomorrow." the worker explained. "It's extremely powerful. It can greatly increase the physical strength of the user."

"What?!" Alicia exclaimed.

"If the villains get their hands on that, that'll be really really bad." Jill said.

'_Damnit. And Overdrive is already a powerhouse as it is.'_ Yamagori thought to herself. '_Ugh, can't this day give me a break already?'_

"What do we do, Ms. Yamagori?" Fiona asked.

Yamagori considered their options. She could try and meet up with Aizawa and Vlad and have all three of them try to take down Overdrive. But there was no guarantee that they'd have enough time to do so. She only had one option. Go herself and hope they could catch up.

"Aizawa. Vlad. Their boss is after a specific support item. It's in the storage vault. Meet me there." Yamagori explained into the mic. She knew Overdrive would hear this as well, letting him know they were onto his goal. But she at the very least could intercept him and buy some time.

* * *

"Damnit. To think Sienna would cause this much of a problem." Overdrive said. "Seems we're gonna have to hurry boys. Get that vault open."

"I'm working on it, but this thing's really thick." one of the villains said, working on heating the perimeter of the door with a fire based Quirk. He was only halfway done though. At the rate things were going, they wouldn't be able to get away.

"Should we give up and run, boss?" another one of them asked.

"No way." Overdrive said. "We've come too far to give up now. Besides, once we have that support item, those heroes won't be able to touch us." He looked at his henchman that was weakening the door. "Move aside. It should be weak enough for me to handle it now."

The villain did as he was told and stepped away. The others distanced themselves as well. They knew just how powerful their boss's Quirk was.

Overdrive grinned as black smoke began to burn out from the pipes on his shoulders. "Let's bust this baby down." He swung his fist as hard as he could. The devastating force of the punch knocked the door down, giving them entry into the vault.

Inside the room was a wide variety of expensive high-tech support items. It was where HSI kept their top of the line stuff before it got shipped out. And every single one of them was now theirs for the taking. The main one Overdrive cared about though was a set of equipment at the far end of the room. A pair of gloves and boots, all connected together by straps that seemed to make the entire thing one piece. A big grin came to Overdrive's face as he looked at what he had come for.

"Jackpot."

* * *

Yamagori rushed through the halls as she hurried to the vault. The students of Class 1-C followed closely behind her. It was a race against the clock. They had to stop Overdrive before he could get his hands on that support item. They were the closest to the vault so it was more likely than not that they would reach it before Vlad or Aizawa. But that loud boom she had heard a minute ago had Yamagori on edge.

"Listen up." Yamagori told her students. "When we get there, you all provide support only. Whatever happens, you are not to fight Overdrive. He's on a whole other level than the lackeys you've fought so far. Is that clear?"

"But what about you then? Can you take him?" Dan asked.

"I don't need to beat him. Just buy time for Eraser Head and Vlad to show up." she explained. "Overdrive's strong, but even he can't take those two and myself together."

"What about your Quirk? Can't you just paralyze him with a look?" Shiro pointed out.

"Yeah if I was fighting an idiot, or someone that didn't know about my Quirk. Unfortunately, he's neither of those things." she said. "Overdrive knows my Quirk, and he'll be wary of it."

As they turned the corner, Class 1-C could finally see the vault. But to their misfortune, it was already open. Standing at the broken down door were a pair of villains.

"Tsuki! Reikon!"

Alicia and Shinobu took the front and fired off their Quirks, quickly taking out the two villains. They laid down in defeat. But soon, the big boss himself showed his face. A yellow visor was worn over his eyes, but the gleam they had was still viewable through them.

"Nice of you to join us, Sienna." Overdrive smirked. "You can help me take my new toy for a test drive."

Without warning, Overdrive sped towards the class. He threw a downwards punch at Yamagori, who quickly dodged by leaping up and to the side. The force of the resulting shockwave from Overdrive's punch however blew everyone back and forced Yamagori up, making her hit the ceiling.

'_What the hell is this? He was nowhere near this strong last time I saw him.'_

"Aw yeah! This is sweet!" Overdrive said with a grin. He grabbed Yamagori by the head and threw her down the hall. He then chased after her.

"Ms. Yamagori!" Vivi exclaimed.

"Stay back!" she shouted at the students as she flew midair. "Remember what I told you! Leave him to me!"

"And you'll be able to stop me? What a joke!" Overdrive said with a grin as he delivered a powerful punch to the teacher's gut. She slammed into the ground with a painful thud, cracks forming in the floor. He cracked his knuckles. "This new support item sure is handy. Especially with a Quirk like mine. I've already burned enough energy to beat you into the ground with ease."

**[Overdrive. Quirk: Body Engine. He can burn his own energy for a powerup to his physical abilities. Doing so costs him stamina however. When he burns his energy to power up, smoke emits from the pipes on his back.]**

'_Damnit…'_ Yamagori thought as her body ached with pain. '_He's already equipped the support item. But if we're this close…'_ She looked into his eyes and quickly used her Quirk to try and paralyze him.

"Sorry. That won't work." Overdrive grinned. He grabbed her by her head and lifted her up, still able to move freely.

Yamagori widened her eyes. "What's going on? You looked directly at my eyes. How can you move?"

"Another nifty little item I swiped here." he said with a smirk as he tapped the visor with his finger. "This little guy here keeps me from being affected by Quirks that deal with my eyes. Think of it like a barrier between me and Quirks like yours."

'_This is bad.'_ Yamagori thought. '_My Quirk is useless here.'_

"I acted so kind to you. I gave you a chance to get in on this payday." he told her with a smug grin. "But you refused. And on top of that, you even got in my way. So you really must think you are a hero?"

"You're the one who went back on his word and involved my class." Yamagori told him with a glare. "So don't give me that crap."

"Sorry about that. It's just business!" Overdrive said as he threw a punch her way, making her tumble along the hallway.

Yamagori struggled to stand up. Overdrive's blows had already dealt plenty of damage to her. At this rate, she wasn't going to last long enough for Aizawa and Vlad to show up.

Overdrive turned his head to the students behind him. "Maybe I should try and teach these kids in your place." he said with a chuckle. He began walking towards them. "I'll make sure it's a lesson they'll never forget."

The students of Class 1-C tensed up as some of them prepared themselves to fight. They weren't sure what they could do however against a monster like this. As he walked towards them, he felt a sting come to his back. He turned around and saw Yamagori with her whip.

"You're fight's with me." she said with a glare.

"Heh, if you insist. Your funeral either way." Overdrive said as he brought his attention back to Yamagori. "If you want to keep playing that much, then I'll make sure to extend your suffering as long as you want!"

Yamagori turned around and ran towards the vault. She knew what she had to do. She had only one chance at winning against Overdrive.

"Hahaha! So now you want to play tag? Fine by me!" Overdrive said as he chased after her.

'_What the hell am I doing? Why did I even come after Overdrive? I should have just let Eraser Head and Vlad handle it.'_ Yamagori told herself as she half-ran, half-limped away from the villain. '_I wasn't even thinking when I came here. My mind just decided that on its own. But why?'_

"Tag! You're it!" Overdrive yelled as he hit Yamagori with a kick this time. She flew back and hit the wall before falling to the ground painfully.

Yamagori managed to get to her feet, but she was bleeding and she was pretty sure she had a couple broken bones. The power of the support item Overdrive had was no joke. But despite the pain she was in, she managed to crack a grin. "What's the matter? Is that all you've got? I would have thought you'd kill me by now. Maybe you're not as strong as you claim to be."

Overdrive's expression quickly turned to a scowl. "That's some pretty big talk for a wimp that can barely stand."

"But I'm still standing nonetheless." she said. "If this is your max power, then that's pretty sad."

Overdrive growled as he glared at Yamagori. "You want to see my max power? Why don't I show you just how strong I am!" He roared as he burned more of his energy, smoke erupting from the pipes in his back. His muscles grew in size as he readied another attack.

'_I really hope this works.'_ Yamagori thought to herself.

"DIE!" Overdrive roared as he sped at the woman.

Yamagori waited until the last moment before leaping away. She avoided a direct hit, but was still blown back from the shockwave as Overdrive's fist went straight into the wall. Her breathing was heavy but she was still standing as she kept her distance from Overdrive.

Overdrive pulled his fist out from the wall. "I'm getting really tired of this."

"Then maybe you should give up while you're ahead."

Overdrive cracked his knuckles as he prepared to attack once again. "You shouldn't get so cocky, Sienna. You can act like you're a hero all you want. We both know the truth." He rushed at her with another punch, but Yamagori managed to dodge just in time once again. "You're not a hero!" Once again, another attack came that was evaded. "You're just a pathetic failure that couldn't make it as a pro!" Rinse and repeat. "You're nothing more than a worthless pile of trash!"

Yamagori dodged yet again. Looking at Overhaul, she could seem him starting to get tired. She smirked. "You're right. I am garbage. A worthless failure that wasn't able to make it as a pro." she said. "But there's one thing I do know. Something that was drilled into me a long time ago."

"And what is that?"

"Even if I am every single one of those things… I can still be a hero." she said.

"Well you're about to be a dead hero then!" Overhaul prepared to attack once again, but his body suddenly felt sluggish. '_What? Damnit, did I already reach my limit?'_

'_Finally. He's out of stamina and can't burn his energy anymore.'_ Yamagori realized with a grin. "I guess it's time to wrap this up." she said as she called out to her class. "Fukuyame! You're up!"

"You got it!" Melody said. She began to sing, focusing the effect of her Quirk on her teacher. "_Let's go, let's go! Rah! Rah! Kick 'em to the curb! Lessons will be learned! This is your story! Knock 'em dead with a flurry!"_

As Melody sang, Yamagori felt her energy revitalized. She was still in pain, but she finally had some of her strength back. She was standing tall and ready to deliver a well deserved beatdown.

Overdrive noticed Melody singing and realized a Quirk was at play. He prepared to go after her, but Yamagori quickly stopped him as she wrapped her whip around his right arm.

"Here's today's lesson for you, Overdrive!" Yamagori said. She used all her strength and swung her whip, bringing Overdrive along for the ride. He wasn't able to put up any resistance with how exhausted he was. "A hero can always break out of a tough spot!"

'_Why am I saying this?'_

She swung him against the wall. Overdrive let out a grunt of pain. "They will always find a way for justice to be served!"

'_The very lines I mocked and said were worthless. Why do they suddenly come back to me now like this?'_

Yamagori wasn't done. She reeled her whip in, pulling Overdrive towards her. Bringing her body low, she delivered an upwards kick to his gut and sent him into the air. "You might have heard these words before, but there's a little saying we have at U.A."

'_Is it because deep down I still want… to be a hero?'_

Yamagori leaped into the air, getting herself above Overdrive who was beginning to fall back down. She swung a kick that sent him crashing into the floor. As gravity took over and she began her descent back down, the woman reeled her fist back. "Go beyond"

Overdrive watched as Yamagori came down towards him. He was too weak to guard himself. '_No… I can't lose… I was so close.'_

"Plus Ultra!"

Yamagori dived down and delivered a vicious punch to the villain's face. The visor he had on cracked and broke apart. There was no longer any point in her using her Quirk on him though. Overdrive was out like a light. He wasn't getting up anytime soon.

"Woah…" Nene gasped. "Did you guys see that?"

"She took him down. That was amazing." Satoshi said.

"Way to go, Ms. Yamagori!" Hikari cheered. "That was awesome!"

The boost from Melody's Quirk finally ran out and exhaustion washed over Yamagori. She sat down and caught her breath. "Why can't villains ever just surrender peacefully? It would make being a hero so much easier."

"Hey! Is everyone alright?!"

The new voice caused everyone to turn and see both Aizawa and Vlad come running towards them. The two teachers came up to Class 1-C. "Are all of you safe? Any injuries?" Vlad asked.

"We're all good." Sakura said. "We took down the villains. And Ms. Yamagori handled their boss."

The two teachers hurried over to the vault, seeing Overdrive and all of his lackeys down for the count. Yamagori noticed the two of them and greeted them with an exhausted grin. "Took you two long enough."

"Are you alright?" Aizawa asked as they walked over to her.

"I'll live." she said. "Best get this big lug restrained though, before he wakes up. And make sure you get that support item off him. Otherwise we'll have a lot on our plate when he comes to."

Aizawa quickly got to work on tying up Overdrive and his crew. Vlad looked at the Class 1-C students. "All of you fought as well?"

"Well duh. No way teach would have been able to handle all this on her own." Hyde grinned.

"D-Don't get the wrong idea though! Ms. Yamagori had us following her instructions the entire time so we didn't needlessly endanger ourselves!" Sakura explained.

Aizawa and Vlad looked at the woman. "You let them fight?" Aizawa asked.

"Yeah. I did." she admitted. "Look, I didn't have much choice. It was either that or-"

"Good call."

Yamagori blinked her eyes in surprise. "Come again?"

"It was the right call. Plus you made sure to take the students' safety into account when ordering them." Aizawa said. "Good work."

Yamagori hid a small smile forming on her lips. "Yeah, well… It's not like I needed your approval or anything. I knew it was the right call."

"Classes A and B are already at the lobby." Vlad said as he turned to the students. "Hurry and get yourselves over there too while we clean up the mess."

Class 1-C nodded together and walked away, making their way back to the lobby where the other first year hero students were.

* * *

When the police finally showed up, Overdrive and his crew were taken into custody. The people of HSI thanked the teachers for their help in preventing their inventions from being stolen. Unfortunately, the field trip was cut short as a result of the incident. All three classes headed back to the school. When they returned, they were all told to wait in their classrooms. Although the school day was over, they still needed to confirm a few things.

Yamagori made her way to the conference room. Nezu had likely already heard all of the details from Aizawa and Vlad. She wasn't looking forward to this, since it likely meant she was being fired and sent back to prison. But if it was happening either way, she figured it was best to just get it over with.

Once she knocked on the door, she heard Nezu's voice on the other side. "Come in."

Walking into the room, Yamagori saw all of the other pro hero teachers there. It was like she was walking into her own public execution.

"Thank you for coming, Sienna." Nezu said.

Yamagori took her seat and sighed. "Alright, just say it already. I'm headed back to prison, aren't I?"

"Eraser Head and Vlad filled me in on what happened during the field trip." Nezu told her. "And after confirming everything, I felt there was something you needed to be told."

'_Here it comes.'_

"Thank you."

It took a second for those words to register with Yamagori. She blinked her eyes in surprise. "What?"

"In addition to Eraser Head and Vlad's testimonies, I also talked with the students of your class. They explained everything that happened, filling in the blanks." Nezu explained. "You took the situation into account and decided on the best course of action that would resolve the situation and keep your students in relative safety. It was the right move to make."

"But I had them fight."

"And you were directing them the entire time. As a result, none of them were injured." Nezu told her.

"So… I'm not getting fired?" she asked.

"Of course not." Nezu told her with a small laugh. "As long as you're willing, I'd love for you to continue your year of working here. I believe your students have much they could learn from you."

"But I thought you all thought I was a traitor."

"I suppose that's on me." Present Mic said. "I may have overreacted a bit. My bad."

"Regardless, you've shown that you are deserving of the trust of everyone here." Nezu told her. "I hope you will continue your good work."

Yamagori could barely believe what she was hearing. It was the exact opposite of what she was expecting. She almost cried.

"Now then, I believe that is all." Nezu said. "Everyone is dismissed."

Yamagori got up from her seat and walked to the door. When she reached the exit, she spoke up. "Hey… Nezu?"

"Yes?"

"I think I understand the lesson you wanted me to learn finally." she said, not turning around to show the smile on her face. "More than anything… I still want to be a hero."

Nezu smiled and nodded his head. "I'm glad you think so."

"Do me a favor though. Next time, just tell me the damn lesson instead of making me have to figure it out myself." she said with a small chuckle. She walked out of the room and made her way down the hall.

Everything had turned out far better than expected. She was still a teacher. She wasn't headed back to jail. And to top it all off, she had never felt more at peace with herself. However, there was still one thing nagging at her. One thing she still had to do now. Face her class with them knowing about her past and her reasons for being here.

Yamagori slowly made her way to the room for Class 1-C. When she reached it, she stared at the door for what seemed like forever. Finally, she sighed to herself and walked inside. Each of the students were conversing with each other, but when she walked into the room they all quickly moved to their desks and sat down.

Walking up to her desk, Yamagori sat down on it. She sighed as she addressed the students. "Look, I know none of you particularly like me right now. But whether you like me or not, I'm going to be here for the year as your homeroom teacher. So you brats are just going to have to deal with it." she told them. "And I'd rather not spend the year getting snide remarks, so if any of you have something to say, just say it already and let's get it over with."

The students all looked at each other, with none of them making a move. Finally, Vivi stood up from her seat. Yamagori could only expect this one to be the harshest of them, considering she had been held hostage.

But to her surprise, Vivi instead bowed her head. "Thank you for saving my life, Ms. Yamagori."

"... What?"

"You took action in order to save me." Vivi told her. "So even if you do have a criminal record, and even if you're not a pro hero… I wanted to thank you."

"Yeah. All things considered, you did pretty well." Hyde said with a smirk. "I mean, we stopped the villains and none of us got hurt."

"The entire time, you made sure we didn't do anything stupid that would get us injured." Dan told her. "So what we really all want to say is… thanks."

"Yeah. It's not like you were a part of the attack or anything. You stopped those villains." Jill said.

"Plus it was so awesome the way you took down their boss." Shiro added. "It was totally badass."

"Everyone…" Yamagori shed a tear, but quickly wiped it away.

"Aw, are you gonna cry teach?" Hyde asked.

"Shut it, Gekido." she told him with a slight grin. "Alright then you brats. If you're all really ok with me being your teacher… then I suppose I better start taking this role seriously." She looked at all of them with a smirk. "On one condition. Since I'm gonna start putting effort into this thing, you all better make sure to be the top class of the school. I don't want you all making me look bad, got it?"

"Right!" the entire class said in agreement.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Surprise everybody. With how things are looking, I'm going to change my update schedule for this fic to twice a month for the time being. This chapter will start off the Sports Festival arc. Hope you all enjoy it.**

A week had gone by since the incident at HSI. It had been a trying time for the three first year hero classes. But in the end, they had managed to pull through and save the day. Ever since then, Class 1-C had been surprised at how much Sienna Yamagori's attitude had changed. She had said she would start putting serious effort into teaching them, but it was still a shock to them at the difference. She showed up to hero training classes when she didn't need to, gave some of them feedback on what they needed to improve on, and was altogether a lot more helpful.

As the bell for homeroom rang, the students sat down as Yamagroi entered the room. She walked over to her desk and addressed the class. "Alright everyone, listen up. I'm sure you're all aware of this already, but the U.A. Sports Festival is coming up."

"Of course." Hyde said with a grin. "Like anyone would forget about that."

The other students nodded in agreement. It was rare to find anyone that hadn't heard of the U.A. Sports Festival. It was a yearly event where students competed against each other, separated by grade, and aimed for glory. The entire country tended to watch it, much like the Olympics had been for them in the past before it became a shadow of its former glory.

"Is the school really ok with holding it though?" Sakura asked. "After all, there was a villain attack at the USJ recently, not to mention what happened during the field trip."

"The school believes holding the event despite that will show its rock solid crisis management system." Yamagori explained. "Besides, it's a major event throughout Japan. It'll take more than what's happened for them to cancel it." She looked at each of her students. "It's a once a year event, where you have a chance to show the country what you can do. If you're planning to catch the eye of some well-known hero agencies, there's no better place for it than this."

Each of the students had expressions made up of determination, excitement, or both in some cases. They all knew the point their teacher was trying to get across. They needed to do well in this if they wanted a good chance at securing their futures as big time pro heroes.

"I told you all before that I expect you all to be the best class among the first years, didn't I?" Yamagori said. "Well now's your time to show Class A and B what you're made of. I won't settle for anything less than first place, got it?"

"Yes ma'am!" the entirety of Class 1-C said together.

"Good." the woman said. "In that case, don't slack off on preparations."

With that, the school day went on as usual. However, once lunchtime came around, the only topic of conversation going around the room was the Sports Festival. The class left the room in groups, each one talking about their excitement for the event or what they were planning to do in order to prepare.

"I hope the events aren't too hard. We're not allowed to wear our costumes, right?" Sakura said. "If I don't have any plantlife near me, my Quirk will be useless."

"Sadly that tends to be the case for those whose Quirks can't be used in any location." Fiona admitted. "It'll be tough for me too if there isn't any water around."

"I will try to keep my dazzling presence from taking up too much of the spotlight." Merci said.

Nene rolled her eyes at Merci's statement. "You're in the same boat as them, Merci. You need a flower to use your Quirk and you can't bring any with you."

"What?! This cannot be?!"

"It can and it is. If it's not part of your body then you can't bring it with you." Marcus told him.

Merci held his head low as he and the others continued walking. As they made their way to the cafeteria, they noticed a large number of students gathered in the hallway near the room for Class 1-A. It was crowded with students to the point that it was impossible to pass.

"The hell's going on over there?" Shiro questioned.

Daiki looked at the sign hanging above the door. "Class 1-A. I get it."

"They're trying to scope out the competition for the Sports Festival." Sarah said.

"Then why is everyone gathered here?" Jill asked. "There's three hero classes after all."

"It's because of the USJ attack." Dan realized. "Class A's in the spotlight since they fought off villains."

Hyde scoffed at the claim. "Big deal. We fought villains too when we were attacked at the field trip."

"Ha! You think that's really the same?!" a voice said from the room. The crowd made way as a boy with ash-blonde spiky hair walked out. He looked at Hyde with a smug grin. "From what I heard, your teacher was the one that did all the hard work. You probably just followed her around like dogs on a leash."

"What was that?" Hyde glared.

"Did you even fight any villains on your own? Well?" the boy said. "Don't go acting like you're in my league, losers. You're all just stepping stones on my path to being the number one hero."

"Bakugo, you can't just go acting so rude to people!" another boy from Class 1-A called out, this one a black haired boy with glasses. "You're going to set a bad image for the class!"

"Big deal. The end goal is the same either way." Bakugo said. "Win and stand above everyone else. That's all that matters. What others think won't matter in the end."

"You won't be talking so tough once I take first place." Hyde challenged.

"Don't make me laugh." Bakugo said as he walked past Hyde and the others. "When everything's said and done, you'll see the difference between you and me."

The glasses-wearing boy rushed out of the room, waving an arm at Bakugo. "What did I just say?!" He sighed as he turned his gaze to Class 1-C. "I apologize for my classmate's rudeness. I can assure you that not all of us hold the same beliefs as him. My name is Tenya Iida."

"It's alright. We know what it's like to have a hotheaded classmate." Dan said, glancing slightly at Hyde.

"Hmph. I don't see why everyone's getting worked up." Shinobu said. He walked past his classmates and walked on ahead. "That fool was loud mouthed, but there was one thing he said that was true. The only thing that matters in the end is winning. Everyone else is unimportant."

"Hey! Don't go writing the rest of us off so easily!" a boy in the crowd with a steel-like body yelled. "Seems it's not just Class A, but also Class C that has cocky jerks!"

"The loud mouthed ones like you tend to be the first to lose." Shinobu said nonchalantly. "Instead of talking the talk, focus on walking the walk instead."

The crowd made way for Shinobu as he walked past them. Alicia brought her hand to her face. "Great. Now everyone's going to hate us too."

"Seems we'll have our work cut out for us." Satoshi said.

The rest of the students gradually began making their way down to the cafeteria for lunch. Tensions were high after the conversation in the hallway. But one thing was true for each member of Class 1-C. Their minds were all set on showing the world what they could do.

* * *

Yamagori leaned back in the break room as she drank a can of soda, relaxing with the lunch break she had. She was soon accompanied by the homeroom teachers for Class 1-A and 1-B as they walked into the room.

"You sure seem to be in a good mood, Yamagori." Vlad said. "I would think you'd be nervous with the Sports Festival right around the corner."

"Nervous? As if." Yamagori said with a smirk. "My students are ready for this. Perhaps it's you two that are feeling nervous."

"My class will be fine. Provided they prepare accordingly." Aizawa said as he took a seat. "In the end, it's up to them to show off their skills and catch the eyes of hero agencies."

"Yup. It's out of our hands from this point on." Yamagori said in agreement. "If they want to be pros, they can't miss this chance."

Vlad took a seat with the other two teachers. "It's more than the chance at a good internship on the line, though. You both know the other side to the festival of course."

Yamagori knew exactly what Vlad was referring to. Depending on the results of the Sports Festival, there was a chance that some students in other courses would be transferred into the hero course. Similarly, there was also a chance that some would be transferred out. It rarely ever happened, but the chance always existed every year.

"Class C is going to be at the top. So they won't let their dreams of being heroes end in a pathetic way like that." Yamagori told them.

Aizawa looked at the female teacher. "You've changed."

"Hm?"

"Before, you barely seemed to care at all about your class. But now you're saying you have full confidence in them."

"I agree." Vlad added.

Yamagori showed a small grin. "Yeah, well… maybe they just reminded me of my old self." She took another sip of her soda. "Just try not to complain too much when my students show your classes up."

"Heh, careful Medusa. You might be in for a surprise with how the festival turns out." Vlad smirked.

* * *

Class 1-C sat together at the lunch table, still discussing the upcoming Sports Festival. The topics varied from what past year events had been like to what some might be doing to prepare but it was all about the festival.

"I should probably work on improving my body." Sakura mentioned as she thought about things. "There's no guarantee I'll be able to use my Quirk in all of the events."

"I guess it's the school's way of making students learn to adapt to environments that may not be suited for their Quirks." Jill said. "Still though, we don't necessarily have to finish in the top spots as long as we can show off our skills to the pros."

"Each event will be a chance. And we're going to have to seize them." Marcus said, taking a bit of his food.

Discussions went on amongst the students. A few of them talked about training together so they could help each other improve. As they talked, they were interrupted by a newcomer's voice.

"Well if it isn't Class C."

Several heads at the table turned as a boy with blonde hair walked up to them. Hyde narrowed his eyes at the student. "Do we know you?"

"Ah, where are my manners? I'm Neito Monoma of Class 1-B." the boy said, introducing himself. He leaned in and whispered to make sure prying ears wouldn't overhear him. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to listen to a little suggestion I have."

"And what would that be?" Nene asked.

"We both know that Class A has gotten a lot of attention due to the villain attack at USJ. Our two classes have instead gotten ignored by the general public as if we don't even exist." Monoma said. "So I suggest an alliance. We could work together in the Sports Festival and crush those Class A losers like the worms they are."

"And what makes you think we need your help to beat Class A?" Hyde asked. "I know I can take them down all on my own."

"Relying on others is pointless." Shinobu said. "This isn't a team competition. It's everyone for themselves. If you can't handle things on your own, then you're just weak."

Monoma twitched slightly, clearly holding himself back a little. "I see some of you have gotten a bit of a big head with the HSI incident. But let's be honest, it was your teacher that did all the hard work, right? The news didn't cover you all that much from what I saw."

"Monoma, was it?" Hikari said. "Let's get something clear. It's true Miss Yamagori was the one who fought the villain's leader. But we still did our fair share to help there."

"On top of that, it doesn't matter to us whether or not we got highlighted. We know our skills are real." Dan added. "And we plan to win without using any cheap tricks like ganging up on a single group."

"You hear that? Maybe your class just isn't up to the cut." Hyde smirked. "Though I guess it's only natural to be nervous with someone like me to deal with."

Monoma's expression changed from an innocent smile to a face devoid of any sanity. A mad grin came to him. "I see. I was hoping to give you all a chance at sharing the glory, but it seems you're all too stupid to realize the smart thing to do. So we'll just have to crush you and Class A ourselves."

'_Geez, talk about a tone shift.'_ Alicia thought to herself.

Monoma walked away from the table, laughing to himself as if he was a villain rather than a hero. Most of Class C were a little off put by the craziness emanating from him.

"Yikes, I feel kind of bad for his class. Having to deal with a guy like him must be tough." Lilina said.

"It doesn't matter. It'll all come down to who's the best in the end." Shinobu said as he continued to eat. "The fact that he felt help was needed only proves he's not confident in his ability."

"Still, it looks like we'll have to stay on our toes. Class B might be after us now too." Shiro mentioned.

With that, Class 1-C went back to eating their lunch. If the day so far had proven anything for them, it was that things were going to be eventful at the Sports Festival. And they'd all need to do their best to be prepared for it.

The days leading up to the U.A. Sports Festival went by in the blink of an eye. The students of Class 1-C each trained hard in their own separate ways in preparation for it. Some worked on improving their Quirks through control or power. Others focussed instead on improving their physical abilities. It was a grueling process for each of them, but they each did it without complaint. It was like their teacher had told them. If they wanted to become pros, then they couldn't miss this chance to catch the eyes of hero agencies.

And just like that, before they knew it, the day of the Sports Festival finally arrived.


	10. Chapter 10

The entrance to U.A was crowded with people. It wasn't hard to guess the reason why. The day of the U.A. Sports Festival, a nation-viewed event, had finally arrived. Stands were lined up past the front gate of the school with people selling souvenirs and various kinds of food. The people gathered ranged from media reporters, to ordinary citizens, and even various pro heroes that were either working security or watching to scout some potential interns.

Normally most people would be going to the location of the third year events, as they were the most skilled. But this year there were a surprising number of people going to the first year's events. Between the famous Class A that had fought off villains at USJ to Class C that had been rumored to have been a major part of dealing with the villains at the HSI attack, many spectators were curious to see what the first years could do.

In the waiting room for Class 1-C, the students all waited for when they would be called to walk out onto the field. They had each spent the days leading up to this training harder than ever before. Today would be the moment of truth showing whether or not it had been worth it.

Sakura looked at her classmates, seeing more than a few of them tense from nerves. She herself was also nervous too. Following her responsibilities as class rep, Sakura tried to think of a way to encourage everyone. "L-Let's do our best out there, everybody."

"Yeah." Jill grinned. "Let's do this!"

There were mixed reactions amongst the students in the room. Some nodded in agreement, fired up by the encouragement. Others stayed as nervous as before. There were some like Shinobu and Kenta who seemed indifferent, with no way for the others to read them.

Before long, the time came for the first year classes to step out on the field. They each readied themselves for what would likely be a difficult competition.

* * *

"Hey! Make some noise all you rabid sports fans! Get those camera's prepped media hordes!" Present Mic shouted from his seat in the comentator's booth. "This year we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in Sports Festival history guaranteed. I've only got one question before we start this show. Are you ready?"

The crowd in the stadium roared with excitement. It was finally time for the Sports Festival that everyone had been waiting for. Up in the commentator's booth with Present Mic was Eraser Head, still bandaged up from his injuries at USJ.

"Let me hear you scream as our students make their way to the main stage!" Mic shouted. "This first group are no strangers to the spotlight! You know them for withstanding the villain attack! These dazzling students light up your tv with solid gold skill! The hero course students of Class 1-A!" As their class was called, the students of Class A stepped out onto the field. The cheers from the crowd were all the evidence needed that they were the ones to watch. Shortly after, Present Mic continued with the next class. "They haven't been given nearly as much screen time, but this next group is still chocked full of talent! Welcome hero course Class 1-B!" Just like with Class A, the students of Class B stepped out onto the field with determination in their eyes. "And last but not least of the hero courses, we have hero course Class 1-C!"

Each of the Class C students stepped onto the field together. The roar of the crowd was deafening. They each examined the thousands of people gathered to watch.

"Th-There certainly are more people than I was expecting." Sakura said nervously.

"Heh, no time for nerves Sakura." Hyde grinned. "All this means to me is more people to witness the start of my rise to greatness."

"Hmph." Shinobu pushed his glasses up slightly. "Just try not to make a scene when you don't get first place."

"And what makes you so sure I won't get it?" Hyde asked.

"Simple. Because there's no way you'll ever beat me."

"What was that?!"

"Enough you two." Nene said. "Don't cause a scene and make us look bad."

Present Mic went through introducing the rest of the first year classes, from D to L. Though with the festival tending to put most of the spotlight on the hero course students, one couldn't help but feel like they were simply extras. It was clear that the other classes weren't a fan of the lack of attention either.

All of the students gathered together on the center of the field. Standing on top of the podium was a female teacher of U.A in a rather questionable-looking outfit. The R-rated hero known as Midnight.

"Geez, is it really appropriate for a teacher to dress like that?" Daiki asked. "It's bad enough when it's in class, but this is on national television."

"For the student pledge, we have Katsuki Bakugo!" Midnight announced.

Everyone watched as the spiky haired boy from Class 1-A that they saw in the halls before walk up to the podium. His eyes didn't have the slightest hint of worry in them. He had full confidence in himself.

"Tch, why'd it have to be that guy?" Hyde asked.

"Well he _did_ score first on the entrance exam after all." Dan pointed out.

Bakugo walked up and stood in front of the microphone. The entire stadium was silent as everyone waited to hear Bakugo speak. However, some did not care for what came out of his mouth.

"I just want to say… I'm gonna win."

Barely one second after the arrogant declaration of victory, practically everyone amongst the first years hissed and booed at Bakugo. If the others had a low opinion of his personality before, now it was at rock bottom.

"That does it! This guy needs to be taken down a peg!" Shiro said. "I'm gonna crush him!"

"I can't say I approve of him either." Marcus added.

"If he's going to make a statement like that, then he's going to have to prove he can walk the walk and then some." Sarah said.

After Bakugo walked off the podium, Midnight brought everyone's attention back to the festival. "Without further adieu, it's time for us to get started! This is where you begin feeling the pain! The first fateful game of the festival!"

A monitor appeared behind Midnight, spinning through a list of events. Everyone watched with anticipation for what would start things off for the games. Finally, the monitor stopped and read "Obstacle Race".

"So we're starting with an obstacle course, huh?" Fiona said. "Wonder what kind of stuff we'll have to do."

"All 12 classes will participate in this treacherous contest." Midnight explained. "The track is 4 kilometers around the outside of the stadium." She showed a devilish smirk. "I don't want to restrain anyone, at least to this game. As long as you don't leave the course, you're free to do whatever your heart desires. Now then, take your places contestants!"

All of the students gathered by the main gate, the starting line for the race. It was rather crowded, but everyone had their game faces on. The three lights went down before finally the signal to start came.

"Begin!"

With that the students took off running. Each and every student didn't waste any time trying to get through the gate. However, that in of itself turned out to be the first obstacle for many.

"And we're off to a racing start!" Present Mic said. He looked over to Eraser Head next to him. "How 'bout some color commentary Mummy Man?"

"How did you talk me into this?" Eraser replied with a tired voice.

Mic seemed to ignore his partner's unwillingness to be here as he continued. "What should we be paying attention to in the early stage of the race?"

"The doorway."

True to Eraser Head's words, simply getting through the doorway to the outside of the stadium was proving difficult for many. With the large number of students and limited space, the doorway had become a cluster of students pushing and shoving each other in an effort to get out.

'_So this is the first obstacle.'_ Dan realized.

As the first few students began to get out of the gate, a sudden chill swept through the entire area. In seconds, everyone found the floor around them frozen with ice.

"What the hell?!"

"Who did this?!"

Students soon got their answer as a boy with a mix of white and red hair came running out. As he ran along the ground, more and more of the ground became encased in ice.

"Sorry about that." the boy said as he continued running.

"Oh come on! This isn't fair!" Fiona complained as she tried to free her feet from the ice.

The boy with the icy Quirk quickly took the lead. However as he turned around, he noticed a surprising number of people emerging from the gate as well, managing to evade the ice.

"I won't let you get away so easily, you icy hot bastard!" Bakugo shouted.

It wasn't just Class A students that managed to avoid the ice however. Class B and C students had also managed to find their own ways around the boy's trap. Satoshi and Marcus had both used their wings to fly over the student crowd at the gate, avoiding the icy ground. Similarly, Jill and Nene had used their Quirks to jump over the crowd, Jill with her spring legs and Nene creating clones that she used as airborne platforms to leap off of. There were others that had jumped up just in time to avoid the ice trap. One person in particular however was using the ice to his advantage.

"Thanks for the skating rink!" Dan grinned, sliding along the ice with impressive speed.

As he flew in the air, Marcus noticed Dan sliding along the ice. '_Dan's Quirk can control any water or ice he touches. Seems the ice wasn't an obstacle for everyone.'_ he thought. He looked on ahead at the boy who had created the ice. '_That guy. If I remember correctly, he's one of the ones that got in through recommendations. The son of the Number 2 Hero Endeavour. Shoto Todoroki. He's going to be a tough one to beat.'_

Dan quickly caught up with Todoroki with the help of his Quirk. He showed a grin to the son of Endeavour. "Looks like our Quirks go perfectly together."

"Seems so." Todorki said in a nonchalant tone.

The two didn't get to chat for long as another student quickly closed in on them. This one was a small boy throwing odd balls from his head onto the ground and jumping off of them.

"You think you're so cool, but I've outsmarted you! How pathetic, Todoroki!" the boy said. "Eat this! My special attack! Gra-"

The boy didn't get to say anything else as a sudden object came out of nowhere and slammed right into him. The boy was sent rolling away, while Dan and Todoroki stopped in their tracks. Standing in front of them were large green robots that were as tall as buildings. Todoroki had never seen them before, but Dan and some of the other hero course students that had just caught up recognized them all too well.

"Those are… the zero point villains from the entrance exam." Lilina gasped.

"You've gotta be kidding me. Just one of those things was terrifying enough, and now there's a whole group of them?" Alicia said.

Dan tensed up, knowing just how tough these robots were. "Well this sure isn't going to be easy."

"Ha! Don't make me laugh!" Hyde said. He slammed his hand on the ground and a spiked pillar shot up going towards one of the robots. However, the second it made impact, the pillar shattered while barely leaving a scratch on the robot.

Marcus narrowed his eyes at Hyde. "You do remember you tried that last time and failed, right?"

"Sh-Shut up!" Hyde yelled back. "I was just checking if they were as tough as the one from last time!"

Nene rolled her eyes. "Sure you were. But seriously, anyone got an idea how to get past these things?"

"Hmph. So this is what they had at the entrance exam?" Todoroki said. "They obviously went to a lot of trouble, but I wish they prepared something a little more difficult." With a wave of his arm, a huge amount of ice shot up and forze parts of the robots, rendering them imobile. "Especially since my dear old dad is watching."

Everyone widened their eyes in disbelief at how easily the powerful robots were dealt with by Todoroki. Many soon snapped out of their shock as they noticed Todoroki already running under the robots. "He made a path! Let's go!"

Marcus was about to run as well when he noticed the sudden shaking of the robots, realizing what was happening. "Wait! Don't!"

Just as Marcus had predicted, the ice shattered. With the robots off balance at the time, they all fell together, creating a giant pile of rubble. Most had been fortunate enough to notice at the last second and stop themselves from getting crushed. However, one couldn't help but wonder if there were a few that hadn't moved away in time.

"Holy crap. Isn't this a bit extreme?" Nene asked.

Suddenly, a boy with red spiky hair smashed through the top of the pile of robots. "I'M ALIVE!"

Shiro blinked in surprise. "Wow. That guy must be crazy tough to survive that."

"Looks like he's not the only one." Daiki said. He pointed over to another spot where another student appeared. This one had a full metallic body.

"I guess both of their Quirks must harden their bodies." Lilina said. "They're practically twins in that regard."

Alicia looked around them. "Wait, wasn't Sarah just here too? Where is she?"

* * *

Todoroki ran as fast as he could. He had thought his trap with the zero point villains would have allowed him to keep the lead for a little while longer. However, one student had not only managed to keep up with him through that, but also pass him. Sarah Radcliffe of Class 1-C.

'_Her Quirk seems to be teleportation.'_ Todoroki thought to himself, watching her move ahead of him in the blink of an eye. '_A Quirk like that is perfect for a racing event like this.'_

Keeping the lead, Sarah continued to run. She glanced behind her, seeing that she still had a good lead on Todoroki. '_My Quirk could let me win this race easy if I just kept teleporting over and over again. But if I use it too much in succession, I'll drain away all my stamina and won't have any strength left for the other events. I need to pace myself accordingly.'_

As she continued to run, Sarah soon saw the next obstacle in the distance. As she came to a stop, she saw several stone pillars connected by rope. Everything else was a deep chasm where the bottom couldn't even be seen. Todoroki soon caught up with Sarah, surveying the next obstacle as well.

Looking ahead, Sarah could see the end of the obstacle in the distance. It was too far for her to reach the end with a single teleportation. However, the pillars themselves were close enough where she could teleport between them with ease.

Wasting no time on keeping her lead, Sarah began teleporting across pillars one after another. Todoroki quickly began working his way across the chasm as well, not wanting to fall behind. Sarah's Quirk still gave her the advantage however as she reached the end first and began hurrying on ahead. Once Todoroki had crossed the chasm, he kept on going to catch up with the blonde girl from Class C.

Not long after Todoroki and Sarah finished, the main crowd of students arrived at the start of the second challenge. The deep chasm was more than enough to make people think twice about crossing without a plan.

"When did they build this?" a girl with short brown hair questioned.

As many students stopped to think, one girl with long black hair leaped halfway to a nearby pillar before latching onto a rope and nimbly crawling the rest of the way. Others quickly began working their way across too. Satoshi and Marcus began flying over the chasm with their wings, as did Vivi though her speed was much slower than them since she refused to shrink and let her clothes fall off of her. Dan brought out water from his body, creating two long tentacle-like limbs from his arms and jumped off. He hooked his tentacles around a rope and began swinging around as if he was a monkey swinging on a vine. Jill's jumping strength allowed her to ignore the rope and simply hop from pillar to pillar.

"Ugh, no fair! You guys with the mobility Quirks are so lucky!" Melody complained.

"Hehehehe." another voice said. "Here it is. Here's my chance to show off." Many heads turned to a girl with pink hair. Attached to her body were various kinds of equipment. "It's time for my support items to be in the limelight." She had a wide grin on her face as she shouted out into the sky. "Look, all you support companies across the country! Wire arrows and… hover soles!"

"Hey, that's cheating!" Shiro yelled. "We're not allowed to bring items or costumes!"

"The hero course undergoes combat training regularly, right?" the girls said. "To keep things fair, we're allowed to equip items and costumes so long as we develop them ourselves." She fired off a long wire from her belt that stabbed into a pillar before reeling herself towards it with surprising speed. "For those of us in the support course, this is the place where we can show off our ideas and skills to companies! Come take a look all you companies, especially the big ones! Look and see what my babies can do!"

"Argh, even the support course students are getting ahead!" Alicia said frustratingly. "No way am I falling any further behind!" Quickly hurrying on ahead, Alicia grabbed a rope and began crawling her way across as fast as she could while hanging upside down.

Many students decided it was time for them to get moving too. They all began hurrying their way across the course. The first among the large group to cross was Marcus, followed by Dan and Satoshi only a few seconds afterwards. The three males of Class C quickly ran on ahead.

"That was pretty clever of you, Dan." Marcus complimented as they ran.

"Well I can't take all the credit." Dan admitted, showing his arms where there was some ice attached to. "I took in some of the ice that guy from Class A brought out before and kept it on my body to give me more water to work with."

"I'm surprised I'm only seeing ice from him though." Marcus said. "I heard rumors he can use both ice and fire with his Quirk."

"We can wonder about that later. Right now he's way ahead of us, along with Sarah I bet." Satoshi said.

True enough, as they reached the next obstacle the three of them saw Todoroki and Sarah already there, as well as Bakugo. They would have ran straight on ahead if it weren't for the danger and warning signs showing that the area stretched out before them was a minefield.

'_I won't be able to fly that distance in one go. If I land midway, I might accidentally set off a mine.'_ Marcus thought. '_Flying's too risky. I'll have to go on foot.'_

Satoshi was also under a similar dilemma due to the winds not being strong enough. So all three of them carefully began making their way across the minefield, careful not to set off any traps. Thankfully, the locations of the mines were visible so it was all a matter of keeping their eyes peeled. They had barely made it ten feet though before others could be seen coming up from the rear to the entrance of the minefield.

Todoroki and Sarah were both ahead, carefully maneuvering around the visible mines. With this, they were at a disadvantage since they were in the lead. However, Bakugo soon caught up to them with his Quirk. He appeared in between Todoroki and Sarah, holding his arms out to each of them before firing off an explosion from each hand. Both Todoroki and Sarah barely managed to duck in time to avoid getting blasted away.

"Don't declare war on the wrong person, you icy hot bastard!" Bakugo yelled at Todoroki. Sarah attempted to use Bakugo's focus on Todoroki to her advantage and teleport away, but a warning blast from Bakugo kept her from doing so. "And don't even think about trying to warp away from me, loser. If you're gonna run away, then let it be behind me where you belong!"

"Not on your life." Sarah glared.

The struggle for first place became neck and neck between Sarah, Bakugo, and Todoroki. Each of them fought with the other two as they kept moving ahead. Sarah was unable to teleport ahead with two adversaries keeping her from focusing her vision on a specific spot ahead. Behind them, they could hear explosions occurring here and there from careless students setting off mines. But none of that mattered to them. Each one of them only cared about dealing with the other two and moving on to finish in first place. However, all that changed when they heard a massive explosion, one far bigger than any of the previous ones, occur behind them. They watched as a single student came flying towards them on what appeared to be a sheet of armor from the robot villains earlier.

"Deku?!" Bakugo gasped.

"Did Midoriya set off mines on purpose?" Todoroki wondered.

Midoriya closed the distance between the lead and him in an instant and sped past them as he flew midair. Bakugo quickly leaped into the air and flew towards Midoriya, using his Quirk to close the distance. Sarah and Todoroki also stopped their fighting and put all of their effort into catching up.

Behind the four students up front, others quickly hurried to catch up. There were many all fighting to get first place and none of them could afford to waste another second.

'_I'm far enough in now. I should be able to make it to the end.'_ Marcus thought. He ran as fast as he could while avoiding mines to get enough of a running start before kicking off the ground and bringing out his wyvern wings to fly through the air.

Dan didn't have any way to safely traverse the remaining minefield distance quickly, but he picked up the pace and ran faster. '_I'm not going to let them get any further ahead.'_

Sarah, Bakugo, and Todoroki all managed to catch up with Midoriya as the boy began to lose speed with his descent. It was clear he wasn't going to reach the end of the minefield with his trajectory. But to the surprise of the other three, just as soon as they had passed him, he swung the makeshift shield down on the ground, setting off even more mines. He flew forward, taking the lead once again. Sarah stopped briefly to endure the shockwave and avoid falling over. The same occurred with Bakugo and Todoroki. All four of them reached the end and it became a full on sprint to the end. Marcus reached the end next, followed by a black haired male student with glasses that had what seem to be engines on his lower legs. Dan and Satoshi made it next, and many were close behind.

"This is gonna be close!" Present Mic shouted from the commentary booth. "Who will make it first?!"

The audience watched with anticipation for who would make it back first. Finally they got their answer as the green haired boy raced past the gate.

"Izuku Midoriya is our champion!" Present Mic exclaimed.

Midoriya desperately tried to catch his breath, fully exhausted from his reckless stunt towards the end of the race. Todoroki finished next, with Bakugo barely a second after him. Sarah came through next. After those four, a flurry of other students began making it through the gate one after another. It was no surprise that nearly all of the top finishers were from the hero course.

In the stands, Yamagori and Vlad watched together. "Your students aren't half bad." Vlad said with a grin.

"Well of course. First place will end up going to one of them after all." Yamagori replied with a smirk.

"Heh, we'll see."

On the field, Sarah wiped the sweat from her forehead. '_Darn. All three of them finished before me in the end. Bakugo and Todoroki charged on ahead while I was recovering from the explosion's shockwave.'_ She clenched her fists in frustration. '_Class 1-A. They're strong alright.'_

"Nice work out there, Sarah." Marcus said as he walked up to his friend. "I see you worked hard with your training."

"Yeah." Sarah said. "But it still wasn't enough. I'm not giving up though. I'm going to win this in the end."

"I'm not planning to lose either." Marcus told her with a grin. "So you better bring your A game for the other events too."

Sarah nodded with a soft smile. "You know I will."

After everyone had finished, the monitor showed the placements of everyone from first down to forty-second. "Only the top forty-two will advance to the next round." Midnight declared. "But don't be too let down if you didn't make the cut. We've prepared other opportunities for you to shine."

As Dan continued to catch his breath, he noticed Alicia walk over to him. "Hey. Looks like you made it through." she said.

"Yeah." Dan nodded. "Though I was hoping to finish a little higher."

"You still made it in the top 10." Alicia looked up at the monitor. "My Quirk didn't help for anything after the first barrier, so I only managed 18th. But I'll be sure to do better in the next round."

"Did everyone from our class make it?" Dan asked as he looked at the monitor and scrolled through the list of names.

Before Dan could even reach his answer, he got it from Lilina. "Seems not." the redhead told him. "Fiona, Merci, Daiki, Rekka, and I didn't make the cut."

"All five of you didn't make it? Really?" Alicia said in surprise.

"There are 60 hero students in the first years after all." Lilina said with a shrug. "Some of us were bound to miss out. All three hero classes had people that didn't make it."

Marcus and Sarah looked over at Daiki leaning against the wall. They walked over to him, knowing he was likely feeling depressed right now.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you showed off your skills for some hero agency to notice you." Marcus said.

"I'm not so sure." Daiki said with a shake of his head.

Sarah stepped up towards her friend. "That's not true. Even if you didn't make the cut-"

"No, you guys don't get it." Daiki told them. "It's weird but… I don't even remember running through that race at all."

Marcus and Sarah blinked in surprise. "Seriously?" Marcus asked.

Daiki nodded his head. "I remember everything up to gathering at the starting gate. Then the next thing I know, I was near the end of the course. Everything in between is a blur."

"Are you sure you're ok? Maybe you should see the nurse." Sarah suggested.

"No, I feel fine now. That's what's weird." Daiki said.

Marcus thought to himself. "Could it have been due to someone's Quirk?"

"I can't deny the possibility." Daiki told them. He let out a sigh. "In any case, you two better make sure you get through the next event for me."

"Of course." Sarah said with a nod.

Up at the podium, Midnight addressed the students to announce the second game. "Let's see what we have in store for you next. Will your wildest fantasies come to life? What could it be? The waiting is torture. Prepare yourselves… for this!" The spinning roulette on the monitor stopped and showed the event name. Cavalry Battle.

"A cavalry battle?" Sakura asked. "But that's not an individual thing."

"This just got interesting." Jill said with a smirk.

"Allow me to explain." Midnight spoke. "The participants will form teams of two to four people as they see fit. In theory it's basically the same as a regular playground game. But there is one difference. Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle course."

'_In other words, each team will be worth a different number of points.'_ Nene thought to herself. '_There'll be a bit more strategy involved.'_

"Now then, the point assignments go up by increments of 5, starting from the bottom. For example, forty-second place is worth 5 points, and forty-first is worth 10. And the point value assigned to the first place contestant is… 10 million!"

At the announcement of the first place point value, all eyes fell on Midoriya, who seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. With such a high point value compared to the rest, anyone who got their hands on his points would be guaranteed to move onto the next round. A chance for those at the bottom to go straight to the top.

"These are the rules that you'll abide by." Midnight continued. "The game itself will last 15 minutes. Individual point values will be added together to reach your team total. Everyone will know how much you're worth thanks to your headbands. Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team's score. Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up, so the more you steal the harder it will be to manage them. And another thing. Even if your headband gets stolen or your team falls down, you can keep playing until time's up. This is going to be rough. You may use your Quirks as much as you like. But, there are still rules. Make a team fall on purpose and I'll slap you with a red card. You'll be disqualified."

'_Well that's boring.'_ Hyde thought.

A monitor showing a timer appeared behind Midnight. "You've got 15 minutes to build your teams. I recommend you get started."

Everyone quickly began forming teams together. With teamwork being key, most were sticking to their own classes. Even if everyone hadn't been together for long, any amount of time to build up a bond could help.

'_Who should I pick for my teammates?'_ Dan asked himself. '_I've got a decent amount of points, so defense should be the main focus rather than offense. Based on everyone's Quirks in Class C, my best bet would probably be-'_

"Yo. Dan."

Dan turned to see Hyde walk over to him. The ashy haired teen looked him in the eyes. "I want you on my team. You up for it?"

"Me?"

"I saw you fight when that villain attacked us, so I know you've got skill. And you finished high up in the obstacle course too. Your water Quirk is pretty versatile, so I'll make use of that." He turned his gaze away slightly. "Not that you finishing before me in the race makes you better or anything! It was just luck, so don't forget that!"

As much as Dan didn't care for Hyde's ego, he knew that he was strong. With him on the team, his chances of winning were definitely better. "Alright. I'm in."

"Good." Hyde said. He glanced over at Alicia. "You can join too if you want, Double Quirk."

"I don't have two Quirks you dumbass! It's just one Quirk that has different effects based on whether it's day or night!" Alicia told him. "And you promised not to tell anyone!"

"Oh relax. It's not like anyone even knows what we're talking about. They're all busy making their own teams." Hyde said. "Anyhow, we've got me on top and you two carying me. We just need one more for carrying to have a full team of four."

"Actually Hyde, I don't think you should be the rider." Dan said.

"What?! Why?!" Hyde yelled. "If you think just cause you beat me in the obstacle race that you're better than me, then you-"

"Hyde, what is your Quirk?" Dan asked him.

"Huh? I create objects from the ground by making a territory, duh?"

"And how do you make your territory?"

It suddenly hit Hyde where Dan was going with this. If Hyde was the rider, then he couldn't touch the ground. That meant his Quirk would be completely useless. He let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine, point taken. Then who should we have as our last guy?"

Dan looked around the field. Marcus and Sarah were close friends, so they would likely team up, meaning both of them were out. He considered Shinobu, but he already seemed to be in the works of forming his own team in the distance. '_Hyde's Quirk can be useful for defense, and Alicia's can keep others at bay. We should probably go for a power type. That would mean...'_ He quickly looked around for the classmate that came to mind. When he finally caught sight of him, he called out his name. "Shiro!"

The human crocodile turned to Dan as he heard his name called. "Yeah?"

"You wanna join our team?" Dan asked as he, Alicia, and Hyde walked up to him. "We could use a guy like you up front to protect us."

"You guys, huh?" Shiro said as he crossed his arms and thought about it. His gaze went to Hyde. "Did Hyde here strongarm you two onto his team?"

"Oh piss off croc boy." Hyde retorted.

"Hey, no fighting!" Alicia said. "If we're doing this, we'll need to work together."

Shiro looked to Dan. "So who's gonna be rider?"

"If everyone's alright with it, I'll play the rider." Dan said. "Between all of us, my Quirk is probably the best suited for protecting the headbands. Alicia can have one arm free to fire off blasts from her Quirk. Hyde can create structures from the ground to block off others. And you Shiro can be our front man, keeping others at bay with your large body and jaws."

"Hmm… ok then." Shiro said. "Let's do it."

"Alright!" Alicia said, pumping her fist into the air. "Let's do this, Team DASH!"

Hyde narrowed his eyes at her. "Team DASH?"

"What? It's the first letter of each of our names." Alicia said. "It works. This American-made show I watch does it all the time."

"Whatever you say."

"It's really cool!" Alicia argued.

"Sounds really lame."

"Hmph. You just can't spot quality entertainment." Alicia said.

Dan let out a sigh. "Well in any case, we've got our team. Let's talk about what we'll do strategy-wise."

Time passed as teams began to get formed one by one. Soon, everyone was in their own groups discussing how to move through the cavalry battle. Each team with their own ideas of how to protect their headbands and who to target. But they didn't have all the time in the world to strategize. Before they knew it, the fifteen minutes were up as a loud buzzer sounded.

"Oh goodie, it's time to get this party started." Midnight said.

"After fifteen minutes to pick teammates and talk strategy, twelve cavalry teams are prepared to go head to head." Present Mic called out.

Eraser Head lead forward, curious at what he saw. "I see some unexpected student combinations."

"Come on! Everyone, get your hands in the air! It's time for an arena bumping U.A battle royale! Let me hear you scream!"

Gathered around the perimeter of the field for the event, the twelve teams all stood at the ready. Besides the team of Dan, Alicia, Shiro, and Hyde, there were two other notable teams for Class 1-C. Together with Marcus and Sarah were the duo of Hikari and Kenji. Shinobu had also formed himself a decent team together with Jill, Melody, and Nene. Vivi and Satoshi were on a team together while surprisingly Sakura was with a mix of other students from other classes that had a purple haired boy as the rider. There were plenty of other teams consisting of Class A and B, as well as a couple of rouge students from other classes.

Finally the time came for the second game to start as Midnight gave the call. "And begin!"

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and that you're all staying safe with all the chaos going on right now in the world. Next chapter should be out in a week or two. Stay Plus Ultra everybody.**


	11. Chapter 11

The second the cavalry battle began, it was clear who most of the teams were targeting. More than half of the teams made a breakneck dash straight for Midoriya's team and the 10 million point headband. There were those however that decided differently. Dan's team was one such group.

"I still say we should go for the ten million points." Hyde said. "Their team doesn't look like anything special to me. I bet we could take it easily."

"We can't afford to be reckless, Hyde." Dan said. "For starters, we don't know what that guy's Quirk is since he didn't use it in the first round. Plus, even if we do manage to grab their points, we'll be stuck defending it for the rest of the game. We'll keep our distance from them and gather points from other teams for now. Then at the end, we grab the ten million."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Shiro grinned. "So who's our first target?"

"Go for the teams running towards the ten million. We'll catch them by surprise."

As the team was about to take off running, Alicia noticed something in the corner of her eye. She turned her head and gasped. "We've got company!"

Dan quickly turned his head to the left where Alicia was and saw what she meant. Sarah's team of herself, Marcus, Hikari, and Kenji were coming straight for them. They seemed to be another group deciding to ignore the ten million points for now.

"Nothing personal guys, but we're taking those points." Sarah smirked.

"Hyde!" Dan shouted.

"On it!" Hyde said. Acting quickly, he stomped his left leg on the ground, setting up his territory. Shortly after, a wall rose up from the ground, blocking them off.

Dan kept his guard up, knowing Sarah's team would have to go left or right to proceed towards them. He surrounded his arms with water, planning to stretch them out and grab Sarah's headband from whichever side they emerged from. The tension was thick in the air as his team prepared themselves. Then, Dan saw something emerge from the right side.

'_There!'_ Dan stretched out an arm of water, aiming for where Sarah's head would likely be when it emerged. However, not even a second later, the team realized that Sarah wouldn't be coming out. The only thing that emerged from the right side was a jersey. '_What?!'_

At the same moment, Sarah's team emerged from the left side. The lack of the rider's jersey on made it clear that the one Dan had just mistaken for the enemy team belonged to Sarah.

"Looks like you fell for it!" Sarah grinned. She suddenly disappeared, using her Quirk to teleport. Dan caught her reappearing right behind him. Dan managed to tilt his head away just in time to barely avoid letting Sarah grab his headband.

'_That was seriously way too close.'_ Dan thought.

With her attempt failed, Sarah teleported back to her team before her body could hit the ground. "Damn, almost had him."

"What's the plan, Sarah?" Marcus asked. "I don't think they'll let us take their headband easily now."

"Agreed." Sarah said. "Let's fall back and go for someone else."

"Oh no you don't!" Hyde yelled. "You're not getting away from us!"

"Let's go, guys!" Dan called out.

The four of them pressed the charge as they ran straight towards Sarah's team. Marcus brought out his wings and flapped them for a powerful gust of wind to keep them at bay. They then used the opportunity to begin a retreat.

"Get back here!" Shiro shouted.

As Sarah's team began to run, Hikari's ears suddenly picked up on the sound of footsteps headed their way. "Behind us!"

Sarah turned her head too late however, as her headband was suddenly pulled off. She gasped as she turned to see a familiar face holding her headband in his hand.

"To think you were so focussed on what was in front of you, you forgot to keep a lookout for other teams. It's quite sad, really." Monoma said.

"You're the guy from Class B." Sarah glared.

"That's right. You were all so boastful the other day, but frankly I'm not that impressed." Monoma said. "None of you were thinking about the big picture here."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Hikari glared.

"For the obstacle course, Midnight said it was the _first_ game." he explained. "Taking that into account, it wouldn't make sense for them to cut a ton of people so early on. Estimating they'd keep at least roughly 40 or so people, we simply made sure to stay within that margin as we made our way through the race. And the whole time we got to observe both Class C and A, showing off their Quirks and personalities to the fullest. Only a fool would obsess over winning the preliminaries."

"So you planned this as a class then?" Sarah said.

"It wasn't totally unanimous, but I'd say it's panning out well." Monoma smirked. "Anyway, see you later Class C."

"Seems they got us." Kenji said.

"What do we do, Sarah?" Marcus asked. "We've got zero points now? Who do we go for?"

Alicia looked up towards Dan. "We should get moving. We don't need them coming after us when they've got nothing to lose."

Dan nodded his head. "Agreed. Let's get going."

As they turned to move however, Dan's team was met with a surprising attack. A group of five Nenes came running at them.

"We'll be taking that headband, now!" Nene said.

"Alicia, shoot 'em down!" Dan called out.

Alicia quickly followed Dan's command and held out her free arm with her palm open. She began firing off blasts of sunlight one after another. Dan also did his part to help the defense by attacking with a blade of ice connected to his arm by a whip of water. Once the Nenes were hit, they evaporated into mist. Their origin wasn't hard to guess, with the team of Shinobu, Nene, Melody, and Jill standing behind where the clones had been.

"We just can't catch a break, can we?" Hyde complained.

"If Nene sends out an army of clones, we'll be in trouble." Shiro said. "What do we do?"

"We should be fine for now I think." Alicia said. "Remember, Nene gets smaller the more clones she makes at once. If there's too many, then they'll lose their balance and fall over. I'm guessing the amount she sent out just now is roughly her limit while being able to hold Shinobu up."

"They'll also have reduced mobility whenever her clones are present." Dan added. "If we keep our guard up, we can do this."

"It seems you have a good combination of Quirks for defense." Shinobu spoke. He glanced over at Sarah's team. "Not that I can say the same for them."

"What?!" Hikari glared.

Shinobu pointed at them. "In a competition like this, the only ones that can effectively use their Quirks are you, Radcliffe and Cersy. The other two can only help hold you. Their Quirks are rather useless in an event like this."

Marcus glared at his violet haired classmate. "Shinobu…"

"Hey, you don't have to put it so bluntly." Nene told her teammate.

Melody nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, there's no reason to be so mean."

"They're our classmates, aren't they?" Jill told him.

"So what?" Shinobu said. "We're not here to play buddy buddy. This is a competition. And that makes everyone an enemy."

Hikari grit her teeth. "That guy's really pissing me off."

"Everyone, looks like we have our next target." Sarah said. "Forget Dan and Monoma's headbands for now. We've got a different enemy to fight."

"Roger that." Marcus said as he got fired up. "Let's show him what we've got."

"How do we proceed, Dan?" Shiro asked. "Do we go for Shinobu's headband?"

Dan weighed their options. With two teams after them, Shinobu could get careless and give an opening for them to take advantage of. But more likely than not, the majority of their focus would be on them rather than Sarah's team since they actually had points to take.

Over the speaker system, Present Mic spoke to the crowd. "Now who wants to take a look at each team's points so far? It's been seven minutes, so let's get those rankings thrown up on the screen!"

Up on the monitor, the totals of each team were shown in real time. Dan glanced up at the monitor to see how the other teams were doing in comparison to them. Midoriya's team still seemed to have the ten million headband with them being in first place. Monoma's was in second at around 1300 points, proving he had been busy collecting a few headbands over the course of the game so far. With only their original headband worth 625 points, Dan's team was in 5th at the moment. Shinobu's team was right behind them in 6th.

"We need to nab some points, so let's just get the ones in front of us." Hyde said.

'_We've been acting reserved so far. We need to be more aggressive if we're going to win.'_ Dan thought. "Alright let's- Woah!" Dan stopped mid sentence as his team began to wobble slightly. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure." Alicia said. "We're sinking into the ground for some reason."

"I can't get free." Shiro said as he tried to move his legs out of the mushy ground. "Is it someone's Quirk?"

Hyde looked around and finally saw a team heading their way. "Looks like we've got our answer."

Dan saw the team as well, with the metallic guy from Class B riding on top. Tetsutetsu was his name if he recalled correctly. He froze the water around his arms, turning them into a pair of icy claws. He looked down at his teammates. "Can we get out?"

"I'm not sure." Alicia said as she desperately tried to free herself. "Can you rise us up with your Quirk, Hyde?"

"I'm trying." Hyde told her. "But my Quirk only works on solid stuff. The ground around us is too liquidy with whatever the hell they did."

"Then I guess we make our stand here." Dan said.

Tetsutetsu had a look of determination blazing in his eyes. "Your points are ours."

Shinobu noticed the predicament Dan's team was in as well. "Now's our chance. Let's grab their points."

"Not so fast!"

Shinobu watched as Sarah's team started charging their way. All four of them glared at Shinobu as the violet haired student readied himself. "Don't get so cocky." Shinobu said.

"That's our line!" Marcus yelled.

"We'll show you just what we're capable of." Sarah said.

"See? This is because you had to go and insult them, Shinobu." Nene told her team's rider.

Shinobu rolled his eyes. "Getting emotional because your pride was hurt? How pathetic." He called out to his teammate. "Fukuyame, do it!"

Melody nodded her head and quickly began singing. "_Fall to sleep, little lambs. Let your dreams take you in. Fall to sleep little lambs. Sleep will wash your sins."_

As Melody's singing entered their hearing, the movements of Sarah's team began to grow sluggish. "Damnit, I'm losing my strength." Marcus said.

"This is what it means to have useful Quirks at your disposal." Shinobu said. "A Quirk that can empower us or weaken foes. A Quirk that can send disposable soldiers out as our offense to avoid getting in close. A Quirk that can allow us to move great distances if need be." He then showed his open palm with a transparent orb of energy in it. "And a Quirk capable of keeping enemies at bay, combined with a strategic mind to adapt to any situation."

'_We need to do something. If we don't, we can kiss our chances of moving on goodbye.'_ Sarah thought.

Melody stopped her singing. "That should keep them sluggish for a little longer. Any more and they might fall over."

"That could be seen as us trying to make them fall on purpose. Best to avoid that." Shinobu said, understanding his teammate's thought process. He looked over and saw Dan's team still battling it out with Tetsutetsu's team. "Very well then. Now let's continue."

Shinobu's team took off running for Dan's and Tetsutetsu's teams. With the two of them still focussed on each other, stealing at least one headband would be simple. With that combined with the points they currently had from their own headband, moving into the top 4 was more or less guaranteed.

"We're not done yet!"

Shinobu rolled his eyes at Marcus's shout. "Can't you face reality and know when you're-" The rest of the statement died on his tongue as he turned his head and widened his eyes. Sarah's team was charging at them full speed. '_How?! They should still be under the effect of Fukuyame's Quirk!'_

"You ready, guys?!" Sarah asked, determination burning in her eyes.

"You bet!" Marcus confirmed.

"Always." Kenji said.

"Whenever you're ready, Sarah." Hikari grinned.

Sarah readied herself and leaped into the air once they were close enough to Shinobu's team. Shinobu fired a psychic blast at Sarah, but the girl teleported before it could connect. She reappeared right behind Shinobu, getting the extra height in the air from her jump before to position herself perfectly.

"As if I'd fall for such a simple trick." Shinobu said, turning around to swing his arm at Sarah. But as he did, Sarah warped away once again. "What?!"

"In front of us!" Jill warned.

Shinobu turned back around, but as he did, the headband he was wearing was ripped right off of him by Sarah. She was hanging onto Marcus as they leaped through the air with Marcus's wings. They landed together with Sarah holding her position on top of her teammates.

'_Impossible…'_ Shinobu thought, unable to believe what had just happened.

"You said Kenta and I were worthless for this game." Hikari grinned. "How about now?"

"It's true our Quirks won't be of much use for something like a cavalry battle." Kenji told him. "However, we are more than our Quirks."

"I got us some distance in the air with my wings." Marcus explained. "And with Hikari and Kenji's top notch sense of balance, we kept ourselves steady and caught up while you were distracted by Sarah behind you."

"This is what our teamwork looks like." Sarah said. "What do you think, Shinobu?"

Shinobu felt his hands twitching slightly. One thing in all of this didn't make sense to him. How had they shrugged off the effect of Melody's song so quickly? As he took a closer look at Sarah's team, he soon realized the answer. On Sarah's cheek was a slight bruise. And for the rest of her team there was a minor cut on each of them, nothing serious but still enough where it had likely hurt.

'_They hurt themselves and used the pain to bring their focus back.'_ Shinobu realized. '_To think I would lose to such a reckless stunt.'_

"What do we do, Shinobu?" Nene asked. "We're sitting at zero points right now."

"The answer is obvious." Shinobu said. "We take our points back!"

"Go ahead and try." Sarah told him.

While Sarah and Shinobu's teams stared each other down, Dan's team was still occupied dealing with Tetsutetsu and his team. The trap that the front horse of the Class B team had set for them kept Dan and the others from moving much. However, the defensive combination of their team had managed to keep Tetsutetsu and the others at bay. It was a stalemate between the two teams.

"Any luck, you guys?" Dan asked quietly.

"Still stuck." Hyde responded.

"Sorry, but you and Alicia are gonna have to hold out for a bit more." Shiro said. "We can't struggle our way out too much or we're gonna be vulnerable."

Dan dodged another attempt from Tetsutetsu to grab his headband. The range he had access to with just the water in his body was just barely enough to keep them at bay.

"Heh, you Class C guys are pretty good." Tetsutetsu said with a grin.

"I could say the same about you." Dan responded.

"Less than one minute left!" Present Mic shouted.

'_Damnit. We still need more points to get in the top four.'_ Dan thought.

"... Dan, I've got an idea." Hyde said.

Dan glanced down at his teammate. "What is it?"

"I think I can get us out of this thing. And give us a chance to grab their points while we're at it." Hyde said in a quiet tone so the other team wouldn't overhear them. "But it's gonna be a little rough, so the three of us are gonna have to put everything into not tumbling over. That means defense and offense are gonna be up to you briefly."

Dan nodded his head. "Alright. Whatever your plan is, if you think it'll work then let's try it."

Hyde closed his eyes and relaxed his breathing. '_Picture it. The thing you want to create.'_ A few seconds later he opened his eyes. Keeping one hand held to Shiro's, Hyde reached out for the part of the field that wasn't softened yet. It was a long reach, but he managed to just barely touch his fingers to it. And with a clear idea in his head, he shifted the ground around them.

Tetsutetsu's team struggled to keep their balance as the area around them shifted slightly. The ground bent down while other parts tilted up. In an instant, Hyde had managed to change the area around them into what resembled the inside of a bowl. The border of the softened area they were in had also been part of the change causing the mushy liquid to spread out and no longer hold them down.

"Now! Do it!" Hyde shouted.

Shiro and Alicia didn't need to be told twice as they took off running in the direction of Tetsutetsu's team. While they were still regaining their balance, Dan reached out with a watery arm and hooked it around one of the enemy team's headbands. He yanked it off of Tetsutetsu's head as they ran past them.

"Crap, they got it!" Tetsutetsu shouted. "We gotta go after them!"

"Sorry, don't think so." Hyde grinned. Using his Quirk, he created a cage and trapped the four Class B students inside. It wouldn't hold them forever likely, but long enough for them to put enough distance between them.

"Damnit!" Tetsutetsu yelled.

Reaching the end of the shifted area Hyde made, the team jumped up and landed back on the rest of the field. And they now had two headbands worth of points.

"Alright, now let's go for the ten million!" Dan declared.

"Time's up!" Present Mic suddenly called out. "And with that, the second round is officially over!"

The sudden announcement nearly made the four of them fall over. Shiro groaned in annoyance. "Seriously?! And we were all fired up too!"

Dan sighed as he dismounted from his three teammates. "Well so much for grabbing first place."

"Did we make the top four though?" Alicia asked as she and her teammates looked to the monitor.

"Now, let's take a look at who our top four teams are." Present Mic announced. "In first place, Team Todoroki! In second place, Team Bakugo! In third place it's… Team Shinso?! Wait, when did they come back from the dead?! And in fourth place is Team Midoriya!"

Looking at the full scores on the list, Dan's team saw themselves in fifth place, tied dead even with a team from Class B that was led by someone named Kendo according to the monitor. They let out a sigh. "Damnit, and we were so close." Alicia complained.

"Seems Sakura was the only one in our class who made it through then." Dan said, looking over to Team Shinso where she was, along with a student from Class A and another from Class B.

"These four valliant teams will advance on to the final round!" Present Mic spoke. "Now, let's take an hour lunch break before we start the afternoon festivities! See ya soon!"

"Ugh, this sucks." Nene said with a frustrated sigh.

"Yeah, but in the end we did our best. No shame in that." Jill said.

"Tch, how pathetic." Shinobu muttered as he began to walk away.

"Hey, Shinobu?! Where are you going?!" Melody asked.

"None of your business." he said. "Clearly I picked the wrong teammates."

"What was that?!" Nene growled. "You wanna say that again, you jerk?!"

Sarah and her teammates watched Shinobu walk away from his team. "That guy's seriously got issues." Marcus said.

"I'm sorry you guys." Hikari frowned. "We lost. And I feel like I didn't contribute all that much."

Sarah shook her head. "That's not true and you know it. We all did well. The others were just better."

"It seems I need to redouble my training efforts." Kenji said. "This was a valuable learning experience however. I thank you."

With his piece said, Kenji quickly vanished, true to the ninja-like person he was. Marcus rubbed the back of his head. "I can never read that guy."

"In any case, let's go eat." Sarah said. "It'll help us feel a little better."

"Now you're speaking my language." Hikari grinned.

* * *

After the grueling trek of running a four kilometer race, followed immediately by a cavalry battle, many students were grateful for the rest period granted to them. That was especially true for those who would be facing each other in the final event.

Marcus walked through the halls as he decided on what to do for lunch. Along the way however, he crossed paths with a hero he was all too familiar with.

"Ah, Young Cersy!" All Might greeted. "I watched your performance in the first two games. Very impressive."

"Thank you, sir." Marcus said. "But it seems I still have a long way to go."

"That is true. But recognizing that and working to improve are important qualities of a hero." All Might told him. "I was actually just speaking to an old friend of mine about it. I believe you know him."

Marcus watched as another man walked into view. It was a man who had the same black hair as him. The Rairyu Hero, Viserion. But Marcus knew him by a different name. "Dad?"

"Hello, Marcus." Viserion said. "I was just catching up with my old friend here, and our conversation drifted to you. All Might's been telling me you've made a lot of progress at U.A."

"Yes, sir." Marcus nodded. "But… I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it through the cavalry battle."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, son. Your performance was splendid." Viserion told him. "Though I must say, Class A has quite a surprising amount of talent this year."

"Indeed. They gained a lot of experience during the USJ incident." All Might nodded. "The futures look bright for all three classes in fact."

It seemed a little odd for Marcus to see his father chatting so casually with the number one hero, not to mention one of his teachers. Marcus had heard from his father's stories that he and All Might had worked together from time to time back in their early hero days. Seeing it in person though was another thing entirely.

"Are mom and Emma here too?" Marcus asked.

"Yes. I believe they are at the food court grabbing lunch." Viserion told him. "Why don't you say hello to them?"

"I think I'll do that." Marcus nodded, walking towards the food court and leaving his father and All Might to continue talking.

"Your son reminds me a lot of you, back in the day." All Might said.

"Really? I think he takes after his mother more, personality wise." Viserion said with a grin.

"He'll become a fine hero one day. I'm sure of it."

Viserion nodded his head. "There was one student though that concerned me. Endeavour's son, Shoto I believe his name was."

All Might's expression grew serious. "Yes… I do wonder what Young Todoroki has gone through with how Endeavour seemed to act when I spoke to him earlier."

"I simply hope he doesn't turn out like his father." Viserion said. "Endeavour is strong as a hero, but there's many qualities in which he is lacking."

"I do not believe there is any need to worry on that front." All Might assured him. "Young Todoroki is a fine man. He'll become a great hero one day."

* * *

Shinobu leaned against a wall by himself in a hallway. He had thought victory in the second round would be his. But as it turned out he was wrong.

'_Damnit all. How did I lose? How?!'_ Shinobu asked himself.

He had put in hours of training each day leading up to the Sports Festival. He was certain that at the very least he'd make it to the final event if nothing else. But even that had eluded his grasp.

'_It wasn't my fault. My strategy was perfect.'_ Shinobu told himself. '_It was those useless idiots I teamed up with. I should have chosen more competent teammates.'_

Shinobu grit his teeth and clenched his fists. Results were everything, especially in the career of hero work. And his results in the Sports Festival were far from perfect. What scared him most of all was the possible underlying reason for his failure. A reason he tucked away in the back of his mind because he didn't want to admit it.

* * *

An hour passed and the break for lunch finally ended. Everyone was back in their seats, and eager for the action to start up once again. The students were gathered out once again on the field while they waited for the next event to be announced.

However, there was one other thing that seemed to have many people's attention. Standing at the side of the field were the entirety of Class A's female students, all dressed up in cheerleader outfits.

"What's the matter, Class A? What kind of fan service is that?" Present Mic questioned from the booth.

"What the hell are they doing?" Nene asked.

"They can't be that desperate for attention, can they?" Fiona questioned.

"Maybe they're into that kind of thing?" Alicia suggested.

"Mineta! Kaminari! You tricked us, didn't you?!" one of the female students yelled, glaring at a pair of male students from Class A.

Melody looked over at the two students in question. "Seems Class A has its own share of problems among their classmates."

"Alright, everyone! Let's have some fun competing in the recreational games!" Present Mic shouted from his booth. "When that's over, the sixteen from the four teams that made it to the final round will duke it out tournament style one-on-one!"

"A regular fighting tournament, huh?" Marcus said.

"They usually do some kind of one-on-one competition each year." Hikari mentioned.

Midnight stood on the podium with a box in her hand. "Now let's draw lots to determine the bracket. Once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational game, then start. The sixteen finalists can choose whether or not they want to participate in the recreation. I'm sure some of you want to save your strength." she said. "Now, for the first place team-"

"Um… Excuse me." All heads turned to a blonde boy with a rather large tail as he raised his hand. "I'm withdrawing."

Everyone gasped as they heard this. The sports festival was a big deal for those in the hero course. It was their chance to show off their skills to the pros. For someone to voluntarily withdraw, it was almost unheard of.

"Ojiro, why?" Midoriya asked.

"This is a rare chance for the pros to see you." Iida added.

Ojiro held his head low. "I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until almost the end."

Marcus widened his eyes. '_That sounds like what happened to Daiki.'_

"I know this is a great chance. And that it's foolish to waste it." Ojiro said. "But… everyone here competed by giving it their all! I can't… be up there with everyone without knowing what really happened."

Another student soon stepped forward as well, this one being short with grey hair. "I'm Nirengeki Shoda from Class B. I'm withdrawing for the same reason." he said. "Regardless of ability, don't you think it goes against the goal of this sports festival for those that didn't do anything to move onto the final round?"

'_Those two were on Sakura's team I think…'_ Dan thought. '_Then… does that mean-'_

"I also wish to withdraw." Sakura said, stepping forward.

"Sakura?!" Jill gasped.

"You're really throwing away such a big chance?!" Lilina asked.

"I'm like them." Sakura explained. "I… I just can't stand on that stage when I don't even know how I got there." A few tears formed in her eyes. "It wouldn't feel right."

Many people looked to Midnight, since the final call of whether or not the three students could withdraw would be up to her. Silence swept over the field as they awaited her decision.

Finally, Midnight spoke to them. "Youthful talk like that is something… I like! Shoda! Ojiro! Avalon! I accept your withdrawal!"

'_She decided based on her tastes…'_ everyone thought collectively.

"In that case, we'll have to move up two people from fifth place to replace them." Midnight said. "But it was a draw between two teams."

"In that case…" a girl from Class B with red hair said as she turned her head to Dan's team. "I think it should be from them."

"What?!" Shiro asked. "Seriously?"

"You serious Kendo?!" Tetsutetsu said.

"Admittedly, we really didn't do that much after the halfway point." Kendo said. "But they kept on fighting to the very least second. It just feels right, you know?"

"That's… really big of you." Alicia told her. "Thank you."

"If you don't mind though, I do have one small thing to ask in return." Kendo said. "Would you be willing to let one of the Tetsutetsu team go through as well? They fought so hard, and deserve a chance."

Dan, Alicia, Hyde, and Shiro looked at each other before nodding in agreement. "We're fine with that." Dan said. "They really made us work for fifth place after all."

"You guys…" Tetsutetsu said in shock. Tears formed in his eyes as he quickly tried to wipe them. "You Class C guys are alright, you got that? Thank you for this chance."

"So that means only two of us are moving on then." Alicia said. "Who's it gonna be?"

Shiro let out a sigh. "It should be Dan and Hyde."

Hyde blinked his eyes in surprise as he looked at Shiro. "Croc face…"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Alicia admitted. "Dan kept our headband from getting stolen while we were trapped. And if it wasn't for Hyde, we never would have gotten our chance at a comeback."

"Thanks you two." Dan said. "We'll do our best."

"Yeah. We'll make sure first place will belong to Class C." Hyde grinned.

"You better."

"Very well then. Hiryo, Gekido, and Tetsutetsu have moved up to make the top sixteen!" Midnight declared. "This is the bracket based on the results of the drawing!"

Everyone looked at the monitor to see the matchups. Eight matches based from sixteen people. It listed them across the board.

Midoriya vs Shinso

Todoroki vs Sero

Hiryo vs Ashido

Iida vs Hatsume

Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu

Tokoyami vs Yayorozu

Gekido vs Kaminari

Bakugo vs Uraraka

Dan and Hyde both looked at their pairings. It wasn't that surprising that their matches were against people from Class A, since they made up more than three quarters of the finalists. They were going to have their work cut out for them.

"Yo. Dan." Hyde said. "Final round, you and me."

Dan nodded his head. "You bet."

"Now then, we have that out of the way!" Midnight said. "Onto the recreational games!"

**A/N: Well that's the cavalry battle, everybody. Hope you all liked it. Sadly, I couldn't fit much of Class C into the final tournament since for the overall plot of the My Hero series, all four finishing teams needed to stay the same to keep key story events. Yes, I could have just made it so more people make it to the final tournament, but that would drag this out further and I'm sure you are all looking more forward to some original arcs rather than one where you've all seen what happens through the anime or manga. Until next chapter, readers.**


	12. Chapter 12

Midoriya sat in the waiting room as he thought to himself. He was in the opening match against Shinso. Normally it would be a shock to see someone outside of the hero course make it to the tournament rounds of the Sports Festival. But from what his classmate Ojiro had told him from what happened during the cavalry battle, Midoriya had a good idea on Shinso's Quirk now.

'_If I answer a question he asks, I'll get brainwashed.'_ Midoriya thought to himself. '_His goal will probably be to make me walk out of bounds once I'm under his control. I have to avoid that at all costs.'_

The time for his match was drawing close. Midoriya rose from his seat and headed to the door. As he opened it and walked out, he was met with a few surprising guests. He recognized each of them as students from Class 1-C. It wasn't the entire class, but it was still a good majority of them.

"C-Can I help you?" Midoriya asked nervously, a little off put by being ambushed by a class that he didn't belong to.

Fiona walked forward and stood at the head of the group. A few brief moments of silence hung in the air as Midoriya wondered what she would say. To his surprise however, she bowed her head at him. "Please! You have to beat that Shinso guy in the next match!"

Midoriya blinked as he let Fiona's words register in his brain. "Huh?"

"That guy… he made Sakura lose all her confidence in herself and give up on her chance to compete in the tournament rounds." Fiona told him. "Sakura worked really hard for this. Not just for her sake, but also to try and act as a role model for all of us. To make her give up on herself just like that… it's really frustrating."

"It's not just her either." Marcus said. "We think another of our classmates Daiki was used by him too."

"They're both really strong, and Sakura's always there for us." Shiro added. "So we can't just let what happened go. No one deserves that."

Midoriya let the words of Class C sink in. This wasn't about them wanting to win. This was about them caring for their classmates who were unfairly used by Shinso. He understood their feelings all too well with the same thing happening to Ojiro.

"We don't know if it'll help, but we think we have an idea as to what Shinso's Quirk is based on what Sakura and Daiki told us." Hikari explained. "When you answer a question he asks you, you fall under some kind of trance and end up doing whatever he tells you."

Midoriya nodded his head. "Yeah. Ojiro said the same thing."

"We're begging you man, show that Shinso guy that he can't toy with other people like that." Shiro said. "Kick his ass."

Midoriya looked at the students and showed a fierce look of determination in his eyes. "I'll do my best."

* * *

With the recreational games finally over, it was time for the Sports Festival to move onto the main tournament. The crowd's cheers were louder than ever before. An area of the stands was set aside for the other students to watch in their own respective classes.

"Audience! The finals that you've all been waiting for are finally starting!" Present Mic shouted as fire began to burn in the four corners of the arena. The monitor showed the two students competing in the first match. "Match number one! Even though he's done well so far, what's up with that face? From the hero course, it's Izuku Midoriya! Versus- Sorry he hasn't done anything to stand out yet! From general studies, it's Hitoshi Shinso!"

Class 1-C looked towards Midoriya, clearly able to tell how nervous he was by the expression on his face. "Is he gonna be alright?" Shiro asked. "He looks less like he's ready to win and more like he's about to piss himself."

"We can only hope." Fiona said. "He's got a strength Quirk from what I saw in the cavalry battle. As long as he can avoid getting hit by Shinso's Quirk, it should be an easy win."

"The rules are simple." Present Mic explained. "Force your opponent out of bounds, or immobilize them! You can also win by making your opponent say 'I give up'! Bring on the injuries, because we've got Recovery Girl waiting on standby! Put your morals and ethics aside for a moment! But of course, anything life-threatening is crap! It's not allowed! Heroes should only use their fists for catching villains!"

Looking next to the ring, everyone could see Cementos sitting on a chair, ready to stop the fight if things went too far. Sarah looked at Midoiya and Shinso, noticing Shinso's mouth moving. She couldn't hear him since he was too far away, but he was definitely talking. "It looks like that Shinso guy is saying something to Midoriya."

"He must be trying to get a response out of Midoriya." Marcus suggested. "But Midoriya should know the trick to Shinso's Quirk now. All he has to do is stay quiet."

"Ready?" Present Mic said. "Start!"

Almost immediately after Present Mic announced the start of the match, a sudden glare was seen on Midoriya's face. He charged at Shinso. "What did you say?!"

The second the words came out of his mouth, Midoriya froze. He stood completely still, not moving an inch.

"That idiot!" Shiro exclaimed. "He had one job, and it was to do NOT THAT! How do you mess that up?!"

"This Shinso guy must be really good with his words." Satoshi noted. "Whatever he said, looks like it really got under Midoriya's skin."

"Hey what's going on?!" Present Mic asked. "It's the important first match! Liven things up! The match just started and Midoriya is completely frozen! He's got a blank look on his face and isn't moving! Is this Shinso's Quirk?! He didn't stand out at all, but could he actually be someone amazing?!"

Alicia sat back in her seat. "Well I guess this match is over. It's obvious what Shinso's next move will be."

Just as Alicia and many others predicted, Midoriya turned around and began walking towards the perimeter of the ring. Hyde let out a sigh. "I guess when it comes down it it, that Midoriya guy isn't anything spec-"

The rest of the statement died on Hyde's tongue as a shockwave erupted right from Midoriya as he neared the out of bounds area. Midoriya began breathing heavily, with his feet just barely still in the ring. Everyone gasped in shock, wondering what in the world had just happened.

"Did he manage to undo the brainwashing?!" Jill questioned.

"I think so. Maybe he was able to create a big enough shock and that did it." Lilina suggested.

Hikari narrowed his eyes. "Hey guys, look at his fingers."

Melody looked at her friend in confusion. "His fingers?" She closely looked at Midoriya and widened her eyes, seeing that two of the fingers on one of his hands were heavily bruised.

"Does his Quirk take that much of a toll on his body?" Dan wondered. "If so, it makes sense why he's barely used it this whole time."

Midoriya quickly went on the offensive and charged at Shinso. Faint traces of Shinso's voice could be heard by Class 1-C, proving he was attempting to brainwash Midoriya again, but Midoriya refused to answer this time. He shoved Shinso and began pushing him towards the edge of the arena. Shinso hit Midoriya with a right hook to the face, but Midoriya refused to give in.

"Yeah! That's the way!" Jill shouted. "Knock him out of bounds!"

Shinso managed to break away from Midoriya and avoid getting pushed out. He then lunged towards his opponent, attempting to get him out instead. However, Midoriya grabbed Shinso by the arm and threw him over his shoulder. Shinso hit the ground hard, with part of his body past the line.

"Shinso is out of bounds!" Midnight declared. "Midoriya advances to round 2!"

Cheers were heard around the crowd. It wasn't an overly fancy match, but it had been exciting nonetheless. Some of Class 1-C smiled, happy that Sakura and Daiki had been avenged.

"That guy's strong. But if using his power hurts his body that much, he won't be too hard to beat later." Hyde said with a smirk.

"It's more than just his power you should be admiring, Hyde." Dan said.

"Hm?"

"He was completely under Shinso's control. But he somehow managed to break free. That could have only been done through sheer willpower." Dan noted. "He's dead set on winning. He could be tough to beat if we underestimate him."

"I guess you've got a point." Hyde admitted. "But I still won't lose to him."

"Hey Dan, your match is after the next one, right?" Fiona asked. "Better get ready."

Dan nodded his head as he got up from his seat. "Yeah. You're right."

"Kick that Class A girl's butt, Dan!" Hikari told him as they watched Dan leave the stands and head towards the waiting room.

* * *

The second match was between two Class A students, Todoroki and Sero. Though it was hard to call what occurred a match. The second the fight began, Todoroki had created a huge slab of ice that encased his opponent. With Sero immobilized, Todoroki was declared the victor. After the ice was melted away, Dan was called for the third match. He was a little surprised at how soon it was, but it wouldn't make a difference in the end. He just had to make sure he won.

"Alright everyone, it's time for the exciting match three!" Present Mic declared. "Even though his team didn't make it into the top four of the cavalry battle, he showed great skill during the first two games! From the hero course, it's Dan Hiryo! Versus! Is something going to come out of those horns? Well? From the hero course, it's Mina Ashido!"

Dan and Ashido stood across from each other in the arena. Dan readied himself to fight. '_I didn't get much of a chance to observe her Quirk in the earlier games, but from what the others told me she can shoot out acid from her body. I'll have to be careful.'_

"This should be fun. Let's see what Class C's got." Ashido smirked.

"Ready? Begin!"

Dan didn't waste any time as he quickly surrounded his arms with water before freezing it to make a pair of icy gauntlets. He then took off running towards Ashido.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Ashido said as she waved her arm and sent a small wave of acid at Dan.

Dan brought his arms up, letting the ice block the acid. It still hurt with the ice being part of the water that came from inside his body, but it was nothing he couldn't endure. Though part of his ice was gone now, he still had enough to dish out plenty of pain if they hit. He swung his right fist at his opponent but she moved to the side and dashed past him. Dan turned around, expecting her to be right behind him, but was surprised by what he saw.

Ashido slid along the ring, almost like she was in a skating rink. She moved quickly around Dan, trying to dissorient him with her speed.

'_So she can expel acid from her feet too, and use that to skate along the ground due to the lowered friction.'_ Dan realized.

Ashido continued to move around Dan. Finally she went in for an attack. Dan saw her coming and sent a punch her way, but she quickly ducked under him. Placing her hand on the ground, Ashido nimbly balanced herself on her hand and kicked her opponent, driving her knee into his gut. She moved her body around, sending a flurry of kicks Dan's way almost as if she was dancing and fighting at the same time.

"Oh my! First Ashido was dancing around her opponent, but now she seems to be dancing on him!" Present Mic said. "Is there anything Hiryo can do besides be Ashido's punching bag?!"

"Hang in there, Dan!" Alicia called out from the stands.

"Come on! Counterattack already!" Shiro shouted.

'_Easier said than done.'_ Dan thought, listening to his classmate's yell. '_Her movements are hard to predict, and she's not giving me any openings.'_ Suddenly, an idea came to his head. '_That's it!'_

"What's the matter? Can't keep up with my moves?" Ashido smirked. She jumped up and swung her leg down for an axe kick. "Well then you might as well give up now!"

Dan quickly brought both his arms up to block Ashido's kick. But before Ashido could jump back for a follow up, water came out from Dan's arms and surrounded Ashido's leg. He quickly froze the water, trapping her.

"Gotcha." Dan said with a smirk, glad that his plan had worked.

"H-Hey! Let me go!" Ashido said.

"Amazing! Fantastic! Incredible!" Present Mic shouted. "Hiryo was on the receiving end of a one-sided beatdown from Ashido, but in an instant, he managed to turn the tables on her. Now Ashido is stuck and at Hiryo's mercy!"

"That's the way! Nice one, Dan!" Jill cheered.

Ashido struggled to get free from her opponent as she hung upside down with her right leg trapped in the ice from Dan's arms. Using her free leg, she kicked randomly, unable to see where she was aiming. But the feeling of her foot continuously hitting against something was all the proof she needed that she was doing something.

Dan struggled to endure the kicks that came his way, hitting his chest and sometimes his face. He freed one of his arms from his guard holding Ashido and used it to grab her other leg. He then spun around continuously, preparing to throw his opponent. When he finally had enough momentum, he threw her with all his might, sending her towards the edge of the arena.

Ashido quickly spun her body as she flew midair, attempting to create enough of a counterforce to keep her from falling out of bounds. Her plan worked as she slid and hit the ground, skidding to the point where she just barely stopped at the line. But before she could even think of what to do next, she gasped and saw Dan already inches away from her. His fist was reeled back and encased in ice.

"You're finished!" Dan shouted as he swung a powerful punch at Ashido. The girl from Class A was knocked back and fell out of bounds.

"Ashido is out of bounds!" Midnight declared. "Hiryo moves on to round 2!"

With the end of the match, cheers were heard throughout the crowd. The students from Class C were especially loud with their cheering. With only two members of their class in the finals tournament, every win mattered greatly to them.

On the concrete, Ashido let out a frustrated sigh. "Darn it! I thought I had you!"

Dan walked up to Ashido and reached out his hand. "Good fight. The way you moved was amazing."

"Thanks. You weren't so bad yourself." Ashido said as she accepted Dan's hand and got to her feet. "Don't get cocky though. Class A's gonna clobber you in the end."

"We'll see." Dan retorted.

Dan and Ashido both walked off the field and made their way back to the stands. As he walked through the halls alone, he let out a sigh of relief. His first round had been a tough win, and it was clear that there were even tougher opponents left in Class A. There was Midoriya with his amazing strength and willpower, Todoroki who commanded both fire and ice, and of course the hotheaded Bakugo with his explosion Quirk. If he kept winning, he was bound to face at least one of them. His thoughts were interrupted though when Dan came back to the area for Class C and found his friends all greeting him with a smile.

"Way to go, man!" Shiro said with a grin. "We're one step closer to proving Class C is number one!"

"That move you pulled on that Ashido girl was so awesome!" Hikari told him. "She didn't see it coming!"

"Thanks, you guys." Dan said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh, that wasn't bad I suppose." another voice said. All heads turned to Hyde, who looked towards Dan with a confident smirk. "Make no mistake though, when we fight I'm gonna be the one to win."

"You wish. Hope you're happy with second place." Dan replied.

"You should probably focus on winning round one first, Hyde." Nene told him. "It'd look pretty bad if after all your gloating you couldn't even do that."

"As if I'd lose so early on!" Hyde yelled. "I'm gonna show you all how the star of Class C does things! I'll get first place, no problem!"

"Yeah! Class C is gonna be number one when all's said and done!" Jill said with her fist raised into the air.

* * *

The tournament matches for the first round went on one after another. The fourth match consisted of Iida from Class A against Hatsume from the support course. Iida was declared the winner, though it was less of a victory rather than Hatsume showing off her nifty support items with Iida's help and then forfeiting the match. The next match featured Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, two students with nearly identical Quirks. It was a battle of power, and the end caught everyone by surprise when both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu collapsed, resulting in a draw. Match six was a battle between Tokoyami and Yayorozu. It was a close fight but in the end Tokoyami emerged victorious.

And then it was time for match number seven. Hyde against Class A's Kaminari.

"Time to get pumped once again, everybody! Cause it's time for match seven!" Present Mic announced. "He managed to turn the tables around in the second game for his team to make it to fifth place with a sudden twist! From the hero course, it's Hyde Gekido! Versus! Sparking Killing Boy! From the hero course, it's Denki Kaminari!"

"Hope you're ready to lose." Hyde said.

"You wish. You've got nothing on me." Kaminari replied.

"Ready? Begin!"

"Here goes, buddy!" Kaminari said as his body began to tingle with electricity. "Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 Million Volts!"

A wave of electricity discharged from Kaminari and headed straight for Hyde. However, Hyde wasn't planning on letting himself be beaten so easily. He slammed his hand onto the ground and created a half-dome from the cement ground to block the electric current.

"You won't win just by defending!" Kaminari grinned. He stopped his electric attack and prepared to rush towards the structure Hyde had created. But just before he could take off running, a pillar from the ground shot up and hit him right in the gut. Kaminari felt the air rush out of his lungs as he was sent flying back. He landed past the boundary line, resulting in the end of the match.

"Kaminari is out of bounds! Gekido moves onto round 2!" Midnight announced.

"I hope you didn't blink and miss it, viewers! Cause that fight was over in an instant!" Present Mic called out. "With a smooth transition from defense into offense, Hyde Gekido easily wins and goes onto the next round!"

"Hyde's vision of his opponent was blocked by the dome he created. He must have calculated the distance between them at the start of the match in order to have that pillar aimed just right." Satoshi noted. "That was a clever move."

Over by the area of the stands Class A sat in, Jiro let out a sigh. "Well that's two loses we have to Class C now."

"Oh my, maybe the so-called amazing Class A is nothing but a bunch of losers after all." a new voice said. All heads turned to Monoma, peeking his head over the wall and looking at them with a deranged smile. "After all that boasting, this is all you amount to? What a sad bunch of-"

Monoma didn't get to finish the rest of his tirade as a sudden chop to the neck knocked him out in an instant. Kendo peeked her head up to look at Class A. "Sorry about him."

'_What was that just now?'_ the entirety of Class A thought silently.

As Hyde walked through the halls on his way back to his seat, he came across another person walking in the opposite direction as him. One of the participants of the next match, the final one of round one. Both Hyde and the other student glared at each other.

"Don't go thinking you're hot stuff cause you beat that idiot." Bakugo told him.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not thinking it because of that." Hyde quipped back. "I know I'm hot stuff cause I'm gonna be the winner of this whole thing."

"You wish." Bakugo said, brushing past Hyde and walking towards the field. "When we fight in round 2, I'll kill you."

"Go ahead and try." Hyde smirked, continuing on with nothing short of victory in his sights.

**A/N: Hey readers, hope you're all hanging in there with this covid situation going on. The Sports Festival arc is nearing its end. Who's going to come out on top? You'll just have to wait and see.**


	13. Chapter 13

The final tournament of the Sports Festival continued with excitement at every corner. The final match of round 1 had been a close fight between Bakugo and Uraraka of Class A. Both students gave it their all, but in the end Bakugo won with his overwhelming power and moved on. Afterwards, another match between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu occurred to settle the tie between them earlier. Rather than a fight, this one was an arm wrestling match. It seemed like neither side would give in at first, but Kirishima managed to overpower his opponent and win, moving onto the next round.

The second round had started with Midoriya and Todoroki. Midoriya had managed to force Todoroki to use the fire half of his Quirk, amazing several people in the audience. After an intense fight, Todoroki defeated Midoriya to go onto the semi finals.

Dan had been paying close attention to the fight, able to see both Midoriya and Todoroki would be tough opponents for him to beat. And the winner was going to be his opponent in the semi finals if he won his next match. When it was decided that Todoroki would be that person, Dan knew he had a tough road ahead of him to reach the finals.

But first he had to win his second match. And his opponent was Tenya Iida of Class A.

Stepping onto the field, Dan and Iida both stared each other down. They each had gotten a good chance to observe each other's Quirk so the chances of surprises were rather slim. It was going to come down to strength and skill.

"May it be a good match." Iida said.

"Yeah." Dan nodded.

With both students ready, Present Mic began the match. "Ready? Start!"

Iida was the first to make a move as he sped at Dan with his impressive speed. Dan barely had time to block with his arms as Iida delivered a swift kick to him. Dan was sent back, but recovered as his feet skidded near the edge of the boundary line.

'_He's even faster than I thought. I need to be careful.'_

Iida kept the pressure coming as he moved in to attack Dan. The member of Class C quickly dodged to the side. Iida stopped short of the boundary. Dan doubted his opponent would be foolish enough to make such a trivial mistake and let himself go out of bounds so easily, but he would have been lying if he said he hadn't hoped it would occur.

"Class A's Iida attempts for a quick victory, but Hiryo of Class C has no plans to let himself be beaten easily!" Present Mic announced. "Does Hiryo have any way to counter attack though?"

If he had more water to work with, Dan normally would have tried to leave an ice trap for Iida and make him slip out of the ring. But with the limited amount of water in his body, all he could really do was make armor and weapons for himself. He could try and trap Iida by the legs like he did with Ashido, but with the force of Iida's engines in his legs, Dan would likely be the one thrown for a loop instead.

"Take this!" Iida called out as he rushed at Dan with his high speed. Dan managed to dodge the first kick that came his way, but the second his foot touched the ground Iida swung his other leg right into Dan's gut. The air rushed out of his lungs as he was knocked into the air. He flew back, moving past the boundary line midair.

"Dan!" several students from Class C exclaimed.

'_No… I can't let it end like this.'_ Dan thought to himself.

Enduring the pain he felt, Dan stretched out a watery arm and managed to hook it around Iida while his body was flying back midair. He then retracted himself towards Iida, using his water arm like a grappling hook. It would all come down to whether he could make it back in bounds before his body touched the ground.

Iida widened his eyes and quickly brought up one arm to defend himself as Dan crashed into him with a kick and let go of him with his watery arm at the same time. Dan finally touched the ground and breathed a sigh of relief that he had made it back in bounds just barely in time. He was lucky Iida's kick had hit him mostly upwards.

"Not bad. You've clearly got skill." Iida told his opponent.

"Same to you." Dan replied. "But I don't plan on losing."

"Once again, Hiryo just barely manages to stay in the game! But how long can he hold out?!" Present Mic commented.

"Come on, Iida! You can do it!" Uraraka cheered.

"Win this, Dan! Show them that Class A's nothing special!" Shiro called out.

Knowing he couldn't afford to risk staying near the boundary line, Dan decided to rush Iida with an attack. He concentrated all of the water in his body to his arms and proceeded to freeze it, creating a pair of large ice hands. He threw a punch with his right hand stretched out with water, but Iida dashed to Dan's left side to dodge it. However, this played right into Dan's plan. As Iida moved to dodge, Dan moved his left arm horizontally, delivering a painful chop to his opponent.

The students gasped as Iida was knocked straight into Dan's large right icy arm. "Darn. He got lucky, guessing how Iida would dodge there." Kaminari said.

"You idiot." Bakugo told him. "He led him that way ahead of time. With a fist as big as his, it was easier to go to the right, which put him on that Class C loser's left side."

Kaminari widened his eyes at Bakugo. "Wait, you mean he planned for Iida to dodge that way?!"

"Because of Iida's speed, he can't easily keep track of him. So he got him to move how he wanted in order to get him right where he wanted him." Midoriya realized.

Dan brought the water back into his body and charged at Iida. This was his best shot to end it. He had to hit Iida with everything he had. But Iida soon recovered and met Dan's attack head on. Acting quickly, Dan got ready to punch, but with Iida's speed the Class A student closed the distance between them quickly. He hit Dan with a powerful kick while at the same time Dan's fist made contact with Iida's cheek. Adding extra power as ice came out from his arm, Dan sent Iida flying back at the same time as Iida's kick did the same to him. Both students flew in the air towards opposite edges of the arena.

"Dan!"

"Iida!"

Both combatants hit the ground and their feet skidded across the cement field. They each approached the boundary line. Acting quickly, Dan moved water out from his heels and froze the tip, digging it into the ground to stop himself. Likewise, Iida tried his best to skid to a halt to avoid going out of bounds. As both students came to a halt, everyone looked at their positions. The monitor showed a close up of each of them.

And both students were past the boundary line.

"No way… so it's a draw?" Kirishima asked.

"No." Midoriya said. "They're both out of bounds, but one of them crossed the line first."

Midnight held up a hand to declare the winner. "Iida moved out of bounds first! Hiryo moves onto round 3!"

Dan let out a large sigh of relief as he fell back and landed on his rear. He had managed to win, but it was an extremely close fight. And his next match would be against the son of the Number 2 Hero Endeavour. Even with his Quirk being able to help against Todoroki's ice, would he be able to win?

With the match over, Iida zoomed over to Dan and offered his hand. "That was a well fought battle. Well done."

"Yeah. Thanks." Dan said, accepting Iida's hand as he pulled himself up. "Your speed is really something. It was all I could do to keep up. And if I had been a second slower with slowing myself down at the end, you could have won."

"Perhaps. But this is the result and I must accept it." Iida told him.

"Well folks, I think we can all agree that was a nail biter!" Present Mic spoke to the crowd. "But now it's time to move onto match three of the second round!"

* * *

After Dan and Iida left the field, the next fight occurred. It was another Class A face off between Kirishima and Tokoyami. Kirishima had a strong amount of power with his hardening Quirk, but Tokoyami managed to pull out a win in the end. All that was left of the second round was the final fight. Hyde versus Bakugo.

Both Hyde and Bakugo stepped up onto the field, determination burning in each of their eyes. Neither one of them had any thoughts about losing this fight.

"Show him what you've got, Hyde!" Jill cheered.

"Don't lose, you idiot!" Nene called out.

Both students took their starting poses. Hyde had seen Bakugo's Quirk in action plenty of times throughout the Sports Festival, so he knew just how powerful it was. But Hyde was sure it was nothing he couldn't handle.

"Ready? Begin!"

Bakugo hit the ground running as he charged towards Hyde, jumping off the ground and using his Quirk to launch himself at Hyde with frightening speed. Hyde slammed his hand on the ground and created a wall between them, planning to have Bakugo slam straight into it. But to his surprise, Bakugo blasted straight through the wall with his Quirk.

"Ha! You thought that weak little wall could stop me? Get real!" Bakugo mocked with a smug grin.

"Damnit." Hyde cursed under his breath. "In that case, I'll just knock you straight out of the arena!"

Using his Quirk, Hyde created a series of diagonal pillars that shot up out of the ground and flew towards Bakugo while he was still midair. Bakugo dodged the first pillar with the force of an explosion from his hand, but the following pillar hit him straight on. The pillar continued to rise, pushing him into the air.

"Nice one!" Fiona grinned.

Bakugo wasn't planning on being beaten so easily. He moved himself off the pillar and fell down towards the ground. Using his Quirk, Bakugo rocketed himself towards Hyde.

"Let's see you dodge this!" Hyde shouted as a flurry of cement fists rose up from the ground and all flew towards Bakugo. They came at him from multiple directions, making it impossible to avoid them all.

"Don't make me laugh!" Bakugo said as he spun his body around, blowing away the fists with a barrage of explosions. He then launched another blast to continue towards Hyde.

Hyde's options were limited. He could try immobilizing Bakugo by trapping his arms, but the likely result would just be Bakugo destroying whatever restraints Hyde made with the force of his explosions. That meant Hyde's only hope was to play defense and wait for an opening to force Bakugo out of bounds.

"Time to end this!" Bakugo smirked as he positioned his arms strangely. He made small explosions from his hands that began to cause his body to spin as he came flying at Hyde like a rocket.

"He's coming in fast!" Sarah exclaimed.

Hyde quickly created a series of large cement walls between him and Bakugo. With so many up, he knew even Bakugo wouldn't be able to break through. Or at least that was what he had thought. But he was proven wrong as he watched Bakugo break through all of the walls together as if they were tissue paper.

'_Crap!'_

"Howitzer Impact!" Bakugo yelled as he slammed into Hyde. The force of it sent Hyde flying back. A large cloud of debris covered the field.

The audience waited for the smoke to clear. What had happened to Hyde after taking such a heavy attack? As everything cleared up, Class C quickly began scanning the area for their classmate. They soon found him as they looked towards the edge of the arena. Two walls were standing, one in front of the other. The first one had a large hole in it, but the other wall was still intact. Leaning against it was Hyde.

"He's still in it! Yes!" Shiro grinned.

It was clear that Hyde was in quite a bit of pain. Anyone would be after being blasted with the force of a freight train, crashing straight through a cement wall, and then slamming against a second one all in the course of a few seconds.

'_I was barely in time with using my Quirk there.'_ Hyde thought to himself as he walked forward.

Bakugo's scowl was a clear sign that he wasn't happy about Hyde still being in the match. "Tch, so you managed to save yourself at the last second? Doesn't matter. Either way, you're finished."

Hyde knew his stamina was at its limit. Another hit from Bakugo, even a light hit, and he'd be down for the count. He had to end this now if he wanted any chance at winning.

"Time to end this!" Bakugo said as he sped at Hyde.

It was now or never. Hyde used his Quirk and a large slab of the field rose up with Bakugo. The Class A student was about to jump off, but before he could, the sides curved up and sealed him in a long tunnel slide. With its structure, the end of the slide was past the boundary line. If Bakugo moved through the slide, he'd end up out of bounds.

"Yes! He's got him this time!" Shiro said.

"That was pretty clever." Marcus said. "He might just win the match with this."

Just as everyone was waiting for Bakugo to fall out the end of the slide, a large explosion occurred in part of the tunnel and blew a gaping hole in the structure. Bakugo emerged from the hole, still in bounds.

"Don't mock me, thinking you can win with such a pathetic attack!" Bakugo shouted. He pressed his hand against one of the chunks of cement and sent it flying towards Hyde with an explosion from his palm. "Eat this!"

Hyde quickly managed to put up a wall right in front of him to block the cement chunk. He waited for Bakugo to come at him from either the left or right. But to his surprise, the wall in front of him shattered as Bakugo smashed right through it. Hyde was left completely defenseless as Bakugo hit him with an explosion at point blank range. Hyde flew back and hit the wall at the edge he had made earlier, keeping him in bounds. But he could no longer fight and collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

Bakugo stood still as Midnight rushed over to Hyde. After checking on the boy for a moment, she held up her hand. "Bakugo moves onto round 3!"

Cheers came from the crowd with the end of the match. Class A cheered for their classmate, while Class C let out a sigh.

"Darn. I can't believe Hyde lost." Vivi said. "That Bakugo is really strong."

"You can say that again." Melody nodded.

Alicia looked over at Dan. "Do you have any ideas to beat him if you fight?"

"If I'm being honest, no." Dan admitted. "Water and ice both can't contain him, and he's extremely good at using his Quirk. If I end up fighting him in the finals, I'll probably lose."

Bakugo was going to be a tough competitor, there was no doubt about that. But Dan had a more pressing concern in his head. Before he could even think about the finals, he first had to win the semis. And his opponent was someone that he was equally worried about winning against.

"Alright dear listeners, that's it for round 2!" Present Mic announced. "We'll be moving on to the semifinals in just a few moments so stay tuned!"

Dan was in the first match so he walked away to prepare. "Wish me luck guys."

* * *

The U.A Sports Festival was drawing to a close. There were only two rounds left, and excitement was nearing its limit. But for Dan, rather than excitement, he was feeling nervous. He was in for a tough fight. Stepping out onto the field, he was greeted with cheers from the spectators. The same was true for his opponent Todoroki. The two of them stood across from each other.

However, something seemed different as Dan looked at Todoroki. Both of his opponents in the first 2 rounds had a fierce look of determination in their eyes. But Todoroki was different. His eyes were clouded. It was like he was only partially there, while the rest of his mind was elsewhere.

"I hope you're prepared." Dan said as he got ready.

No response came from Todoroki. With both contestants at the ready, Present Mic gave the signal to begin. "Ready? Begin!"

Todoroki started the fight off as he sent a huge wave of ice Dan's way. However, Dan had seen this coming and had a counter strategy ready. He surrounded his body with a membrane of water. As Todoroki's ice slammed into him, Dan turned any ice that touched him into water and moved it around him. He soon found himself completely surrounded by ice. But since he could alter the state of any water or ice he touched, he was safe.

Dan showed a smirk as he quickly turned all of the ice Todoroki made into water, giving him plenty to use as a weapon against the Class A student. "Alright, let's get this sta-"

"Hiryo is out of bounds! Todoroki moves onto the finals!" Midnight declared.

Dan blinked in surprise at the announcement. He quickly looked down and realized it was true. He was past the boundary line. '_What?! When?! How?!'_

"You may have been able to change the property of my ice to water, but not fast enough." Todoroki told him.

Slowly it dawned on Dan what had happened. Even though he was changing Todoroki's ice to water, the force of the ice was still slamming against him at a rate faster than he could change it. And with both his vision clouded by the wave of ice as well as the bottom of his feet covered in water, he hadn't realized he was being pushed back. In the end, he had been defeated in the blink of an eye.

"Damnit." Dan sighed as he released his hold on all of the water around him, causing it to splash onto the field. "I can't believe I was so careless."

Up in the stands, Yamagori let out a frustrated sigh. "Looks like in the end, the semis were the best those kids could do."

"Hehehe, what was that earlier about your class winning first place?" Vlad asked with a smirk.

"Oh shut up. Your class only had one student make it in, and he lost in the first round." Yamagori pointed out.

"Sad but true." Vlad admitted. "Class A. Aizawa's students sure are tough."

"Yeah." Yamagori nodded. "Looks like I'm gonna have to get my class to get the lead out."

* * *

The Sports Festival went on and the excitement continued to rise even higher. Bakugo easily managed to win the semi finals, meaning the final match was a battle between him and Todoroki. The fight between the two of them in the finals was intense, but Bakugo managed to pull out the win in the end. However, during the match, Todoroki used his flames briefly but stopped shortly after. It did raise the question of whether he would have won if he had continued to use his left side.

With all of the matches over, it came time for the awards ceremony. Fireworks shot into the air as those with the top standings stood on the podium.

"All of the first-year events for this year's U.A Sports Festival have been completed." Midnight announced. "And now, we will begin the award ceremony."

While it should have been a time to celebrate, many eyes couldn't help but notice the student in first place. Bakugo was tied to a post with chains on his arms and his mouth gagged. He looked more like a wild prisoner than the winner of the U.A Sports Festival. Class A's students had a clear sign of embarrassment around them due to their classmate's behavior.

"Now, we will award the medals!" Midnight said. "The presentation of the medals will, of course, be by this man! Our very own All Might!"

"I have brought the medals here!" All Might declared as he leapt from the top of the stadium onto the field.

Midnight walked up to the Number 1 Hero with the medals. "Now then, All Might, please present the medals, starting with third place."

The muscular hero walked up to the third place podium where Dan and Tokoyami stood together. He put a medal around each of their necks. "Young Tokoyami. Young Hiryo. Congratulations."

"Thank you, All Might." both students said together.

"You are both strong." he said. "However, Tokoyami, to fight different types of enemies, you must not rely only on your Quirk. If you train your own strength more, you'll have more options when you fight."

"Yes sir." Tokoymai said.

"And Young Hiryo." All Might continued. "You have a rather versatile Quirk. But your fighting style with it is somewhat linear. You should work on diversity so you can fight various types of opponents."

Dan nodded his head understandingly. "Yes sir."

All Might walked up to Todoroki next and gave him the silver medal before moving on to Bakugo. Though he gave the gold medal to him, it was clear that Bakugo did not want anything to do with it.

"Geez, does that guy have to make such a scene about it?" Marcus asked.

"It certainly doesn't set a good image, that's for sure." Sarah said in agreement.

"Even still, there's no denying he's strong." Shiro said. "He beat Hyde after all."

"Would you shut up!" Hyde glared. "Just wait! Next year's gonna be different! I'll be the one standing on top there, I swear it!"

"Well if you do make it there next year, just try not to look like Bakugo." Hikari told him.

"Well regardless, I'd say this was a great Sports Festival!" Lilina grinned.

"Come to think of it, where were you during the final tournament?" Nene asked. "I didn't see you watching with us at all."

Lilina showed a smirk as she revealed a large amount of cash. "I was busy setting up some bets. And boy did I make a killing. Give great odds to an underdog that won't likely win and idiots will flock to try and get that million in one chance."

"Of course money is the reason you weren't there." Alicia sighed.

"Thank you all for coming out here today!" All Might called out to the crowd. "I look forward to seeing where the bright futures of these future heroes will end up!"

The Sports Festival had finally come to a close. It had been a long and crazy day for everyone. But they had each done their best. They had all taken as big a step as they could to reaching the next stage of their futures. Now only one thing remained. The result of their hard work.

The decision of what hero agencies would accept them for their internships.

**A/N: Well readers, that's it for the Sports Festival Arc. As you can see, a lot happened this chapter. I put both the rest of the tournament in this chapter because frankly doing the third round to the end would have made for a very short chapter. Plus now we can move onto the Internship Arc. Do note that the Hero Killer story will not be involved in this arc. It happens, it just won't be mentioned since it is not the focus of this arc for the fic. It will instead show a look at internships for various members of Class C. Look forward to it everyone.**


	14. Chapter 14

A few days had gone by since the U.A. Sports Festival. It had been an exciting event for not only the viewers, but the participants as well. But now it was over and the days off the students had following the event were over. Classes were starting back up again for everyone.

The students of Class 1-C were sitting together in their classroom and discussing the festival. Since it was broadcast on national television, their faces were known by everyone now. Many of them had gotten chatted up by complete strangers on their way to school.

"I can't believe how popular we've gotten. It's like we're celebrities now." Jill said.

"I know right? I had complete strangers just chat me up out of nowhere." Alicia added.

Fiona looked towards Dan and Hyde. "I'm betting the two of you got the most of it, since you guys made it to the finals and all."

Dan nodded. "It was certainly surprising. I think my cheeks got a little red from embarrassment."

"Heh, well the spotlight and I are already great pals." Hyde grinned, stroking his ego like normal. "It's only fitting for the public to get to know the future Number 1 Hero early on."

Nene coughed into her hand. "*cough* Lost in the second round *cough*."

Hyde glared over at the female student. "What was that? You wanna go, you-"

The conversation was cut short as the door to the room opened and Yamagori walked in. All of Class C's students quickly sat at their desks quietly, instantly stopping whatever conversations were going on amongst them. They were all wondering how she'd react to their performance in the Sports Festival. While many of them had done well, none of them had gotten first place. And on top of that, Class A was clearly the winners with how many of them made it to the final tournament.

Yamagori looked at her class. "Well it seems first place was out of your grasp. But I suppose it's best you all learn sooner rather than later that things won't always go your way. Next year though, I expect you all to show up Class A."

"Yes ma'am." they all said. No one was feeling worse about Class A hogging so much of the glory than them.

"In any case, today we'll be having a special hero informatics class." Yamagori told them. "As you all know, every hero has a code name. Today, you'll all be coming up with yours."

Needless to say, the faces of each of the students lit up with excitement upon hearing this. Any aspiring hero dreamed of the day they would be an official hero and have their hero name known all over. The hero name they would work under was a topic that they thought of constantly.

"Like I told you all before the Sports Festival, you'll all be participating in hero internships. You'll shadow a pro hero and see them in action. Your involvement will be minimal and at the discretion of the hero agency you intern with." Yamagori said. She held up a remote and pressed the button on it, revealing a chart on the blackboard. "With that in mind, here's the hero draft picks from the results of the Sports Festival. Keep in mind that regardless of whether or not a hero asked for you, you will all be participating in internships with pros."

The students all looked at the chart, showing the names of students that got requests and the number of agencies that did so for them. In first place was Hyde, with Dan not far behind. It wasn't surprising since they were the two students to make it to the final rounds. But the fact that they got in due to others dropping out was clear with how close the others were in terms of the number of agencies asking for them. Sarah was third, with Alicia following her in fourth, and Marcus right behind in sixth. More names were listed, but there were some students that didn't seem to get any offers.

"Since you'll be shadowing heroes, you'll be using the hero names you come up with during your internships." Yamagori explained. "Technically speaking, the names you come up with now are only temporary. But I would suggest giving them a lot of thought. Otherwise-"

"You'll have hell to pay later!" a new voice spoke up, entering the room. All eyes widened as they saw Midnight making an appearance.

Yamagori narrowed her eyes at the fellow teacher. "You sure love to make a special entrance, don't you?" She let out a sigh. "Anyway, you'll all be coming up with hero names and then Midnight will advise on whether they're good and/or appropriate."

One by one, small whiteboards and markers were passed around to the students. Each of them thought carefully about what they wished for in regards to their hero names. On the surface it may have seemed simple, but these names would likely be what they would be known as once they graduated and became pro heroes. With it affecting them that far in the future, they couldn't make the decision without some thought.

Ten minutes passed by before Midnight finally spoke up again. "Ok, why don't we start presenting names with those who are ready? Any volunteers?"

A sudden shock went through the room for some of the students upon hearing this. '_We're presenting these in front of the whole class?!'_

Jill got up from her seat, eager to go first. Standing behind their teacher's desk, she showed the name she came up with. "I've actually had this name in mind for awhile now. Jumping Hero: Springtime!"

"Nice and friendly. Excellent choice." Midnight said with an approving thumbs up.

Jill went back to her desk and Lilina decided to go next. Moving to the front of the room, she showed off her white board. "Alchemist Hero: Periodic Au."

Shiro narrowed his eyes. "I get the periodic part, but what's the "Au" for?"

"Isn't it obvious? Au is the periodic symbol for gold." Lilina said with a grin.

"A nice reference to science. I like it." Midnight said.

As Lilina returned to her seat, Merci went up. His usual flashy grin showed as he revealed his name to everyone. "Floral Hero: Wisteria!"

An approving nod came from Midnight. Up next was Alicia. "Sunny Hero: Amaterasu."

"Naming yourself after the goddess of the sun. Interesting choice." Midnight said.

Most of the class saw the name as an obvious choice for Alicia, given her Quirk. However, those that were aware of the other part of her Quirk couldn't help but notice it was completely ignored in her name.

Hyde went up next. "Territory Hero: Sun King."

Midnight brought her finger to her chin. "Curious choice. Why that?"

"Because everything the light touches is my kingdom of course." Hyde said with a smug grin, with everyone noticing the movie reference he was going for.

"Well not all names have to be about the user's Quirk. If that's the image you have of yourself, then that can be a strong symbol." Midnight said.

After Hyde was Rekka. As usual, no one could see her eyes with them being covered up by her bangs, which only seemed to make the smile on her face all the creepier. "Playful Hero: Ember."

The name Ember made sense with Rekka's Quirk. But the title "Playful Hero" felt a bit odd for some of the students. Rekka's appearance would probably only make people want to avoid her rather than play with her.

Marcus went next. "Wyvern Hero: Wyvern Lord."

"Nice and simple, which will make it easier to remember. Not bad." Midnight told him.

The next student up was Dan. "Water Hero: Tsunami."

"Powerful. Excellent choice."

Sarah followed with her name as she went to the front of the class. "Instant Hero: Flashwarp."

"Naming yourself after your Quirk I see. Classic choice."

Up next was Daiki. "Lightning Hero: Voltman."

"Electrifying."

Vivi showed a small blush of embarrassment as she showed her name. "Fairy Hero: Dreamer."

"So cute!"

Hikari went next. "Feline Hero: Panther."

"Ferocious."

Kenji silently went to the front of the class and showed his name, staying quiet as he showed his whiteboard, reading "Shadow Hero: Kage."

"Mysterious."

The next one up was Satoshi. "Wing Hero: Whirlwind Edge."

"Powerful."

After Satoshi, Shinobu went up to the front of the class. His board showed the name he chose. "Perfect Hero: Omni."

Several students narrowed their eyes at the obvious glorified name. Midnight however brought a finger to her chin. "That's a bold choice, both the title and the name. That'll be a lot of pressure to live up to."

"I'm prepared for that." Shinobu said. A fierce flame burned in his eyes. "I _will_ become a hero that lives up to this name. I swear it."

The others of Class 1-C could sense the dead seriousness of Shinobu's words. It wasn't that he thought himself as someone equal to the name he picked. That name represented his goal. The ultimate hero. And it also showed just how much he knew that he was far away from that goal. Though of course, they could all agree that his personality needed work.

After Shinobu sat down, Melody came up to the class, wearing her usual cheerful smile as she showed the name she picked. "Music Hero: Maestra."

"Very fitting."

Nene went up next. "Multitude Hero: Hundred."

"Love it."

The next student up was Shiro. "Crocodile Hero: Croc Rock."

"Excellent use of rhymes."

Only two students were left. The first was Fiona. She stood at the front and showed her name. "Underwater Hero: Siren."

An approving nod came from Midnight. The last one up was Sakura. She showed everyone her white board. "Botanical Hero: Yggdrasil."

"Ah, after the great tree of Norse mythology. Excellent choice." Midnight told her.

With everyone in the class having chosen a hero name, Yamagori got up from her seat and addressed the class. "Alright, now that that's over, we'll go more into detail about the internships you'll all be doing." she said. "They'll last for one week. For those of you that got offers, you'll choose from among them in deciding where to go. Those of you that didn't get any offers will have a list of forty agencies that are taking interns from U.A. They're all in different locations and have different specialties, so make sure to take that into consideration when choosing where you'll go."

As the lists for each student were handed out, everyone took a quick glance at their choices. There was a lot to consider in the decision. The agency's experience and specialties were important for what they wanted to specialize in themselves as future heroes. The location was also key as to where their Quirks would work best.

"In any case, make sure to turn your choices in before the weekend." Yamagori said.

"But that's only in two days!" Hikari exclaimed.

"Yup. Have fun." the teacher said as the bell rang and she and Midnight walked out of the room.

With the school day over, some of the students began preparing to leave. Others were chatting together about what agencies to pick from their respective lists. They didn't have much time.

"Where are you going, Marcus? Your father's agency?" Sarah asked.

Marcus shook his head. "No, I've been getting training from him my whole life. I want to try someone else to get a different experience. I got an offer from the Ryukyu agency, so I'm going to try there."

"Makes sense. Ryuku's Quirk is a little similar to yours." Daiki said.

"What about you guys?" Marcus asked.

"I got an offer from Gunhead's agency, so I'm going there." Sarah told him. "I'm hoping I can learn some better martial arts there, and maybe how to make my own style of it with my Quirk."

"I'm still not sure." Daiki said, taking a look at his list. "I need to think on it a bit."

As Dan looked at his list, Fiona walked up to up. "Hey Dan, have you decided where you'll be going yet?"

"I'm not sure. There's a few places that stand out." Dan said, looking at his list. "But I'm thinking of trying the Aquamarine's Hero Agency."

"That makes sense. Aquamarine has a Quirk kinda like yours, doesn't she?" Fiona said.

Dan nodded his head. "That's right. I'm hoping I might be able to pick up some tricks from her." he said. "What about you?"

"I got a request from Selkie's Hero Agency. They deal with sea rescue, which is where I'm hoping to go into once I become a hero."

"Sounds like a good choice." Dan said. He looked over towards Alicia, who was gathering her things. "What about you, Alicia? Any good offers?"

"Yeah." Alicia told him. "I'm going to intern with Eternal."

"Eternal? I think I've heard that name before." Fiona said.

"She's a hero with a Quirk that fires off blasts of energy. I figure I might be able to get better at using my Quirk if I intern with her." Alicia explained.

Between the hero name Alicia had chosen and her agency choice, Dan could see Alicia was still doing everything she could to avoid the night half of her Quirk. He wanted to say something, but couldn't. Not only were there others around them that didn't know about the hidden part of Alicia's Quirk, it wasn't really his place to judge her decisions regarding her own power. So he said the only thing he could.

"Good luck. I hope you get a lot of experience there."

"Thanks. You too." Alicia said. "Anyways, I'm heading home. See you guys tomorrow."

Alicia grabbed her bag and left the classroom. Dan soon did the same and began heading home. Next week was going to be tough, and he had to choose his internship wisely.

* * *

_**-Monday Morning, Next Week-**_

Class 1-C gathered together by the train station. Each of them would be going their separate ways for the week to their respective internships. They all stood in a group as their teacher Yamagori looked at each of them.

"You all have your costumes, correct?" Yamagori asked, receiving a nod from each of the students. "Remember that you're not allowed to wear them in public outside of during your work with heroes."

"Yes ma'am." they all said.

"Class A beat us in the Sports Festival. Nothing you can do will change that." Yamagori told her students. "And they'll only keep getting stronger. That means you all have to work even harder than them if you want to surpass them. So take in every possible thing you can during your internships. I expect each of you to come back stronger than before when this week is up."

"Right!"

"Good. Now get going."

With that, the students of Class 1-C split up to get on the trains going to their destinations. Some of them waved goodbye to each other and wished each other luck. Others like Shinobu simply walked to their train without saying so much as a word to their classmates. But regardless, one thing was on each of their minds.

Getting stronger and taking one further step towards becoming pro heroes.

**A/N: Hope you liked seeing everyone's preliminary hero names readers. Like I said before, while this story won't cover the Stain events in this arc, they do still happen. You'll see the internships of a few of Class C's students. Until next time everyone.**


	15. Chapter 15

Hyde walked up to the Death Arms Hero Agency, the place he had chosen to spend his internship at. He had gotten quite a few offers, but this seemed like the best place out of all of them. Death Arms wasn't a top ranked hero or anything, but he was strong. Hyde knew that if he wanted to get stronger, this was the place to go.

'_So this is the place.'_ Hyde thought to himself, taking one last look at the address to be sure. '_I've got to get stronger while I'm here. I'm nowhere close to being the strongest hero. Heck, I'm not even the strongest amongst my year. I can't fall behind any further.'_

"Huh? Hey, aren't you from Class C?"

Hyde turned his head towards the voice he heard. Walking up to him was a girl with short black hair and what seemed to be earphone plugs hanging from her ears. The uniform she had on told him she was a U.A student like him.

"Yeah, that's right." Hyde answered. "What do you want?"

"Gee, aren't you friendly." the girl said sarcastically. She looked at the building in front of them. "Let me guess. You're interning here too."

"Too?" Hyde questioned. A low groan escaped him when he realized what she meant. "So you're interning her as well?"

"That's right. We saw each other in the Sports Festival. I'm Kyoka Jiro from Class 1-A." she said, introducing herself. "You're the one that lost to Bakugo in the second round, right? Hyde I believe your name was?"

"That's right." Hyde said. "Can't say I remember you though."

A scowl came to Jiro's face as she looked at him. "I made it to the Cavalry Battle! You could have at least remembered what I looked like!"

"That explains it. You didn't even make it to the final tournament." Hyde said. "Sorry, but I only bother to remember those that make an impression. The strong ones."

"Didn't you only get into the final tournament through technicality?"

This time it was Hyde's turn to scowl at hearing the annoying comment. "I'll show you just how good I am this week! You just make sure not to get in my way!"

"Heh, I'll be making you eat those words by the time this week's up." Jiro said.

The two U.A students walked together inside the building. At the other end of the first room was a woman behind a desk. She glanced up from her computer at them and recognized their uniforms. "Ah, you must be the two interns we've been expecting." she said. "Please wait a moment." She picked up the phone at her desk and dialed a number. "Yes, hello sir? Those two interns from U.A you've been expecting have arrived. Mhm. Yes, I understand." She hung up the phone and turned her attention back to the two of them. "Death Arms will be down here to greet you soon. Please wait a few minutes."

Hyde and Jiro nodded understandingly and took a seat at some of the empty chairs. The two of them sat in silence, not really interested in talking with one another. Both of them were grateful when the elevator came down to the first floor and the pro hero Death Arms emerged.

The muscular hero looked at the two students. "Welcome to the Death Arms Hero agency." he said. "You'll be working with me for the next week. Don't expect this to be like your classes. This will be real world experience. Are you both prepared for that responsibility?"

"Yes, sir!" both of them said firmly.

Death Arms cracked a grin. "Good to hear. Now follow me."

Hyde and Jiro walked behind the pro hero and got into the elevator. Death Arms pressed a button and the door closed as the elevator rose up to the chosen floor. When they emerged, they found several heroes that were working as sidekicks at the agency sitting at desks. They walked past them and into what appeared to be Death Arms's office. He closed the door behind them and looked at the two students.

"Let's start with introductions, shall we? What are your names and goals?"

"Kyoko Jiro. Class 1-A of U.A." Jiro answered. "I'm aiming to become a hero."

"Hyde Gekido. Class 1-C of U.A" Hyde said in a similar manner. "I'm going to be the future Number 1 Hero."

To their surprise, Death Arms let out a laugh at both of them. "Looks like both of you have your own issues right out of the gate." he said. He looked at Jiro first. "Just a hero? That's too vague. You need to think about what kind of hero you want to be, what to specialize in. Otherwise, you'll never make it in this industry." He then turned his attention to Hyde. "And you. You claim you're going to be the future Number 1? You won't even crack the top 10 from the performance I saw at the Sports Festival."

"I know I didn't get first place, but just watch. I swear I'll-"

"That's not what I meant, kid." Death Arms told Hyde. "Do you even realize you're not using your Quirk to its full potential?"

Hyde blinked his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Seems you don't realize it." he sighed. "Alright kid, make a structure here in this room. It can be anything you want, as long as it's around your height and decently thicker than what I can grab with my hand."

Hyde wasn't sure where Death Arms was going with this. Was it perhaps that his structures were too simple? If that was his thought process, then he was wrong. He could make something plenty detailed looking. Setting up his territory, Hyde used his Quirk to make a small statue up from the ground. It looked like the physique of any regular human for the most part.

'_Let's see him mock my Quirk's potential now.'_

Death Arms walked up to the statue and gently knocked the knuckle of his hand against it. "Just as I thought." he said. Bringing his arm back, he swung it horizontally, smashing the top half of the statue clean off. The brute force and suddenness of his attack caught Hyde and Jiro by surprise. "Now take a look and tell me what you see."

Hyde and Jiro did as Death Arms said and looked at what was left of the statue. Jiro took notice of what Death Arms was referring to right away. She could see inside the statue.

"It's hollow." she said.

"Exactly." Death Arms nodded as his gaze stayed stern with Hyde. "In your fight with that Bakugo kid at the Sports Festival, all of the walls and everything else you made were easily blown away by him. That was because they were hollow on the inside."

Hyde stood there in shock. He hadn't even realized the fact that the structures he had been making were hollow. With them like that, anything he made could easily be destroyed by a power-type Quirk as if it were tissue paper. He had always been focused with the outwards appearance of what he was trying to create. He never actually gave any thought to the inside of it.

"A Quirk like yours could do wonders for reconstruction after a disaster." Death Arms said. "But you're too narrow minded with your Quirk. You need to think of the big picture. If you can't even make a sturdy structure with your Quirk, then you can forget about being the Number 1 Hero."

The words from Death Arms sunk deep into Hyde. How could he have been so blind? He had never noticed this even once in all his life. It was no wonder he had lost in the Sports Festival.

"While you're interning here, I want you both to think about your current flaws and how to get past them." Death Arms told the both of them. "But you'll be doing that in your free time. Right now, we have patrol duty. Get changed into your costumes and meet me at the elevator in ten minutes."

"Yes sir!" the two of them said together.

* * *

Marcus had met the Dragon Hero Ryukyu a couple of times when he was much younger. Since the Cersy family was known for having dragon-related Quirks for generations, she had come for some joint training with some of the pro heroes from his family from time to time. But he had never spoken at length with her.

Which was why he wasn't entirely sure what it would be like working under her as an intern.

"You've certainly grown a bit since I last saw you." Ryukyu said as she walked with Marcus. The two of them were patrolling the city along with another student from U.A. Unlike him however, she was not there as an intern. The girl was a third year and had a work study program with the Ryukyu agency. She had long periwinkle hair and wore a skin-tight royal blue bodysuit for her hero costume. Right before they had gone out on patrol with Ryukyu, she had introduced herself as Nejire Hado.

"I suppose it has been a few years since the last time you came over." Marcus said in agreement. "Dad still mentions you though whenever you run into each other during hero work."

"That old man of yours sure helped me out a lot." Ryukyu said. "I'm a little surprised you chose my agency for your internship rather than his."

"My father has trained me a lot ever since I said I wanted to be a hero." Marcus explained. "I wanted a change of pace to further expand my horizons."

"I see."

"Man, you're so lucky!" Nejire said, coming in close to Marcus, a little too close for his liking. "You have an amazing hero for a father, and you knew Ryukyu already!"

"Y-Yeah…" Marcus said, trying to back up from the third year a bit.

Ryukyu cracked a small grin. Nejire's personality was a bit odd, but she had the makings of a true hero. "So Marcus, is there anything specific you're looking to improve on?"

Marcus nodded his head. "Admittedly, I'm still unable to transform myself completely all at once. I can only use one or two of my wyvern features at a time."

"I see." Ryukyu said. "That's not entirely uncommon with some transformation Quirks. In that case, we'll do some training after patrols today."

"That would be great. Thank-"

The conversation was cut short as a loud bang was heard down the block. A man with a large monstrous appearance was going on a rampage. The clear signs of a villain.

Ryukyu quickly activated her Quirk and transformed into a large dragon. She charged at the villain in an attempt to subdue him quickly before any further damage could be done. "Cease your actions at once!"

"Annoying heroes! Get lost!" the villain yelled. He shrunk back down to normal size as he got close to Ryukyu before quickly transforming once again right under Ryukyu's stomach. He managed to use the force to toss her onto her back. He then let out a roar that shook the air around them.

"Geez, what's with this guy? He's awfully rowdy?" Nejire said as she prepared to move in and assist Ryukyu.

As Ryukyu shook off the pain in her back, she looked up and saw that the roar from the villain was shaking the ledge the building near them had that a pair of window cleaners were using. The workers on the ledge struggled to hang on and soon lost their grip. They began to fall towards the streets below.

"Nejire! Marcus! Help them!" Ryukyu called out.

The two students didn't need to be told twice as they sprang into action. Marcus brought out his wings and took off running. He kicked off the ground and flew towards one of the falling workers. Aiming his trajectory perfectly, he grabbed the worker and descended to the ground another block away. Nejire got to the second worker and held him while using her Quirk to hover in the air and bring him down in a safer area.

With the workers safe, Ryukyu got back to the fight and managed to quickly subdue the villain, pressing him against the road. Once she had him safely pinned, she glanced at Marcus and Nejire. "Good work, you two."

"All in a day's work!" Nejire said with a smile.

Marcus was amazed by how calm Ryukyu and Nejire seemed. The suddenness of what had occured still had his heart racing. To be able to adapt to the situation on the fly like that, it went to show just how far he had to go as a hero.

* * *

It had been a long day of patrolling for Dan as he walked back into the Aquamarine Hero Agency with the hero Aquamarine herself. He had spent the full day shadowing her as they patrolled the city. He himself hadn't done all that much. The few instances of trouble they did run into, Aquamarine was able to handle it herself with ease. She was just that good. Though the topography of the city they were in also helped. Rivers and small lakes ran throughout the city, so no place was more perfect for her Quirk.

Aquamarine was a female hero in her late twenties. She had blonde hair that she kept tied up in a ponytail and clear blue eyes. Her hero outfit consisted of a skin-tight blue and white bodysuit, as well as a pair of white framed goggles over her eyes.

"So, what did you think of your first patrol, kid?" Aquamarine asked.

"It was different than what I had expected." Dan said. "But it was a good experience."

"I like the positive attitude." she said. "Speaking of which, there's something about you I've been meaning to mention." She turned around to look directly at Dan. "I noticed you've only been using the water inside your body and what's available from your suit."

"Well yeah. I have to be physically touching any other water to control it." Dan explained. "I'd need to run to one of the other sources of water in the city to use anything else."

"I'm not so sure of that." Aquamarine told him. "You can also control ice if you touch it, correct?"

Dan nodded his head. "I'd have to use my Quirk to liquify it in order to move it freely, but yes."

"Just as I thought." Aquamarine said. She motioned for Dan to follow her. "There's so much potential with your Quirk that's simply going to waste. And I'm going to show you what that is."

Dan noticed the direction Aquamarine was going in was away from the main office of the building where all the heroes working there would usually be. "Ok, but where are we going?"

"To my agency's special training room." Aquamarine told him. They went through a door and down a hall before finally coming to a stop at another door.

Dan wasn't sure what to expect as he walked through the door with Aquamarine. But he widened his eyes at what he saw before him. An Olympic sized pool completely filled with water. He had never actually seen a pool this large with his own two eyes in person before.

"Changing rooms for the men are over there." Aquamarine said as she pointed to a door at the side. "There should be a spare pair of swim trunks you can use in there. Once you've changed, we can begin."

"Begin what though?" Dan asked, not understanding where she was going with this.

Aquamarine showed a grin at the student. "I'm going to show you a whole new way to use that Quirk of yours."

Doing as he was told, Dan walked into the changing room. Just as Aquamarine had said, there were several sets of clean swim trunks piled together on a shelf. They were all blue with a white line going down the sides. After finding one that was his size, he changed out of his hero costume and into the swim trunks. He wasn't entirely sure what Aquamarine had planned, but if it improved his Quirk, then he would take it.

Once he had changed, Dan walked back out to the pool. He saw Aquamarine waiting for him, but like him she had also changed out of her hero costume. She was now wearing a two piece swimsuit that had the same blue color as her hero costume.

"Alright, let's get started with training." Aquamarine said.

"You haven't said what this training is for though." Dan told her. "What new way am I going to learn to use my Quirk?"

"First, a little science question." the female hero said. "What are the three main states of matter?"

"Huh? Well… solid, liquid, and gas."

"Correct." she nodded. "The temperature at which these changes in state occur is different for all forms of matter, but the fact remains that they do indeed exist for each one. This includes dihydrogen monoxide, or water as it is more commonly known. Water is the liquid form of it, while ice is its solid form. You have control over both, so it stands to reason that you should be able to do the same with the third state. Water vapor. However, in both the Sports Festival and today's patrol work, I didn't see you make use of it once. You claim to usually be limited to the water inside your body and the water in your costume, but the fact is water is all around you."

Dan lowered his head. "I've tried it before, but I can't really gather much water from the moisture in the air. If the water I use from my body gets heated and turned into gas, I can at least keep it near me and re-liquify it. But I've never been able to turn the water in my body into gas form on my own, or use much of the water in the air at will. It's just too thinly spread out. The best I've managed is getting a few drops of water to form on my arms."

"But that means it _is_ possible for you to use the moisture in the air." Aquamarine pointed out. "You just need to work on getting better control of it. Do that, and your possibilities will expand tremendously."

"So then this training is for…"

"Yup." the hero nodded. "I'm going to help you learn to use water vapor."

**A/N: Well everyone, I hope you enjoyed seeing the start of some of Class C's internships. This won't be a long arc but you will see some development for certain characters as you've noticed already I'm sure. Until next chapter, readers.**


	16. Chapter 16

The streets of the city were peaceful as Alicia walked together alongside Eternal, the hero she was interning with. She was on the second day of her internship. The first day had been mostly uneventful, with only a few minor disturbances that she and Eternal had to deal with. Though, she supposed that was a good thing. Less crimes meant less people in trouble.

Eternal was a female hero that looked to be in her thirties based on her appearance. Actually, her age was unknown to the public, and was a well kept secret that many hero fanatics speculated over to this day. She had short chestnut-colored hair and incredibly smooth skin. Her hero costume wasn't anything too fancy, just a blue-green bodysuit. It wasn't like she needed any special equipment to help with her Quirk, since it was just a simple energy blast.

"So tell me, Amaterasu. What made you decide to choose my agency for your internship?" Eternal asked her.

"Well, your Quirk involves firing off blasts of energy. I figured I could learn some things by watching you since our Quirks are so similar." Alicia explained.

"Similar, huh?" Eternal questioned. "I'm not so sure of that."

Alicia scratched the back of her head. "I mean, sure I collect my energy from sunlight. And you collect yours from the vitality of people near you, right?"

Eternal nodded her head. "Yes, that's correct."

**[Eternal. Quirk: Vital Energy. She can absorb the vitality of those nearby into her body as energy and fire it off as blasts. She is able to control how much vitality she takes from those around her, but it affects everyone around her so she can't pick and choose.]**

"I get that the way we obtain our energy is different, but other than that is there really that big of a difference?" Alicia asked.

Eternal let out a sigh. "I suppose I should let you know. Since we heroes are in charge of helping you grow during your internships, we have access to specific information regarding the students that intern at our agencies. So I was able to view your file, including the full details of your Quirk."

Alicia widened her eyes at this. '_She knows.'_

"You chose the name Amaterasu for your hero name. Yet only one part of your Quirk involves sunlight. And on top of that, you chose me based entirely on the sun half of your Quirk." Eternal said. "I'm curious as to why that is."

Alicia stared at the ground as her lips curved downwards. "I just… I don't plan on ever needing to use the other part of my Quirk as a hero. I'll be working almost entirely during the day after all."

"While it's true that a majority of your activities as a hero will likely occur during the day, you can't always expect it to be that way. Whether you like it or not, there will be times where you will be forced into a situation during night." Eternal told her. "If you're entirely focused on training yourself for the day, you'll be weak in those rare instances. And that can prove fatal."

"Miss Eternal… with all due respect, it's a rather sensitive topic for me. Can we please drop it and talk about something else?"

Eternal let out a sigh. "Very well. I won't force you. But I want you to think about what I said. And know that if you ever want to talk about it, you can come to me."

Alicia nodded her head. "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now let's get-" Eternal was cut off as her phone began to ring. She took it out and brought it to her ear. "Yes, what is it? What?! Where?! Understood. Get a team ready and meet me there." Hanging up and putting her phone away, the female hero turned to Alicia. "We need to move. Let's go."

Obediently nodding her head, Alicia followed Eternal as they ran. "What happened?"

"There's a human trafficking ring my agency has been working to locate the past few weeks with the help of the police. They've kidnapped several girls and are selling them off to rich criminals."

"What a bunch of scumbags." Alicia growled.

"Indeed. Anyway, that call was to tell me that we finally pinpointed their location. We're raiding it before they can change locations and get away."

"Understood."

"It's too dangerous to let you fight. You'll be escorting the kidnapped victims there out after we get them away from the villains. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Alicia nodded. It was true, she was still very much in-training as a hero, so it only made sense to keep her exposure to danger to a minimum. Besides, right now the safety of the victims was more important than her being able to see some action.

* * *

Dan focused intently as he tried to harness the moisture in the air around him. His eyes were closed and he kept his breathing slow and steady. But even with such intense focus, he was barely managing to turn the moisture in the air into water on his body. And the rate he was doing it was far too slow to be considered practical in an actual real world situation.

"Remember what I told you. Feel the water in the air around you." Aquamarine said. "Expand the water from your body and collect it." She was holding her hands out, spreading out the water from the pool out like a gas, similar to a field of mist.

**[Aquamarine. Quirk: Water Control. She can telepathically move any nearby water around at her will. She can also freeze it or heat it up into water vapor. She cannot control the water inside living things though.]**

"I'm trying." Dan said, gritting his teeth as he began to sweat.

It was the second day that Dan had been going through the special training with Aquamarine. Just like the day before, after their patrol finished for the day, they returned to the agency and went to the large pool inside the building. There, Aquamarine worked on helping Dan learn to use the gaseous water around him and control it.

"Don't focus too far out from yourself. Remember, you can only control the water you're touching, so picture the moisture right by you as if it were sticking to you. Then turn it into water and spread it out slowly." Aquamarine told him.

Dan tried to follow Aquamarine's directions. He struggled, but the water forming around his arms was trembling slightly. Finally, his concentration broke and all the water around his arms splashed onto the ground. Dan fell to his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

Aquamarine sighed as she returned the thinly spread water mist back to the pool and looked at the student. "You're making progress, but you're still a long ways away from practically being able to use it. You need to be able to turn the moisture into water quickly and have full control over it."

"I know. I'm trying. But it's just so hard to feel it." Dan said. "Water's spread so thin in the air. With how hard it is to control, isn't it just more practical to use the water directly available to me?"

"With an attitude like that, you won't ever reach the full potential of your Quirk." she told him. "You need to push yourself past your limits if you ever want to become the best hero you can. Not just turning water vapor into a liquid, but also the other way around."

Dan narrowed his eyes as he looked up at Aquamarine. "I get turning gas into liquid, but why liquid into gas? How would that help me?"

Aquamarine showed Dan a smirk. "Just watch."

Not saying another word, Aquamarine ran to the pool and dived right in. A few seconds of silence passed before Aquamarine shot up from the water. Dan gasped in shock at what he saw. She was hovering in the air, with water vapor quickly emitting from her feet and palms.

"Woah…"

"By quickly heating up the water into gas and expelling it in a single concentrated direction, this technique allows me to fly in a sense. Though I admit, it's rather difficult to control." Aquamarine explained. "It involves turning gas into water, concentrating it near specific areas of my body, and then firing it off as gas again all at once. It took me about six months to invent and master this technique. But as I'm sure you can imagine, it was well worth the effort."

Dan was stunned into silence. He had thought up various types of uses for his Quirk, but never in a million years had he considered this was possible. And Aquamarine was making it look so easy.

Aquamarine slowly lowered the thrust of the steam and descended onto the floor near the pool. "In any case, if you learn to expand what you can do, a whole new world of possibilities will open up to you. If you don't, then people like that Todoroki boy you lost to in the Sports Festival will always be ahead of you."

Her words resonated with Dan. He knew someone with Todoroki's talent would only keep on improving. If all he did was make excuses for himself, he'd never reach the next level and catch up to him or the other students that were ahead of him.

'_It doesn't matter how difficult it is, or how long it takes me. I need to learn to better use my Quirk.'_ he thought to himself.

"So then, are you game to keep going?" Aquamarine asked with a grin.

Dan answered with a firm nod of his head. "Yes ma'am!"

* * *

Sarah stood in the dojo of Gunhead's Hero Agency. Standing across from her was the Class A student, Uraraka. As it turned out, both of them had chosen the agency for their hero internship. They each wanted to improve on their martial-arts abilities, which caused them to pick a hero who was very skilled at it.

The past couple of days, both students had undergone martial arts training from the hero Gunhead himself. This included learning how to fight against enemies using blades and other such situations. They had both learned a lot, but now was the time to show it.

"You'll both fight until one of you gives in or immobilizes the other." Gunhead said. "I'll be the referee."

Sarah and Uraraka took their stances. They each had a decent grasp of each other's Quirk from both the Sports Festival and interning together the past couple of days. If Uraraka managed to touch Sarah, then she was finished. On the other hand, Sarah could teleport all around the room to daze and confuse Uraraka. It would be a matter of who used their advantage better.

"Begin!"

Both Sarah and Uraraka kicked off the ground and sped at each other as the match began. Uraraka reached out to grab Sarah as the distance between them closed, but the blonde girl teleported behind her at the last moment. Believing this was her chance, Sarah went in for an attack. However, as her fist flew towards Uraraka, she noticed Uraraka's other hand reaching out towards her.

'_She predicted where I would teleport!'_

Managing to use her Quirk just barely in time, Sarah teleported away from her opponent before Uraraka could touch her. Uraraka turned towards where Sarah had teleported to and the two stared down at each other once again. Sarah knew that ordinary tricks wouldn't work. Uraraka had her hands held out opposite from each other, giving her a wide range of coverage to touch Sarah wherever she teleported. Finally, the stalemate ended as Sarah vanished from her opponent's field of view.

Uraraka quickly spun her body around, expecting Sarah to be there. But her eyes widened when she didn't see nor feel her. She frantically looked around, but couldn't see Sarah anywhere. Where could she be? The answer came to her a second too late as she looked up and saw Sarah directly over her.

Sarah sent a swift punch down at Uraraka's cheek, making the girl fall onto the ground. She wasn't going down easy though, as she waved her arm and managed to just barely touch Sarah's body with her fingertips. Sarah gasped as she began to float in midair while Uraraka hit the floor. The blow hadn't been strong enough however, and Uraraka stood back up. A grin came to her face.

"Looks like I win this round."

To Uraraka's surprise, Sarah showed her a similar grin. "Oh really?" In an instant, Sarah vanished and appeared right behind Uraraka. Before the Class A student could even realize what had happened, Sarah moved her floating body and wrapped her legs around Uraraka's waist and her arms around her neck and head. In the blink of an eye, Uraraka had gone from certain victory to utter defeat.

"That's enough. Radcliffe wins." Gunhead said, ending the match.

With the match over, Sarah released her hold on Uraraka and Uraraka released her Quirk. Gunhead walked up to both girls and patted them on the shoulder. "That was excellent, both of you. Uraraka, you took your opponent's Quirk into consideration, and minimized openings for yourself. Radcliffe, you used the moment your opponent's guard was weakest to turn the tables on them."

"Thank you, sir." both girls said with a grateful bow.

"Both of you fight hand to hand. So it is important that you learn how to deal with various types of opponents." Gunhead explained. "Now then, it's time to go on patrol soon. Get yourselves ready to head out."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

It was yet again time for another daily patrol for Dan as he walked alongside Aquamarine. He had seen her in action on tv a couple of times, but witnessing her work in person was another thing entirely. Granted it was mostly due to the abundance of riverways in the city they were in, but she was able to handle nearly every incident that occured around her with ease. And after training with her, he knew just how much stronger she was than what she showed in public.

As they walked, Dan decided to speak up. "Aquamarine… can I ask a question?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"What made you want to be a hero?"

"My reason for becoming a hero, huh?" she said. "Well when I was 10, I was at the beach with my family. Then, out of nowhere, the tide got really strong. Everyone got out of the water, but there was one kid who was too far out and couldn't get back to shore. I tried using my Quirk to calm the water, but it was no use. I was far too inexperienced with it. But then, this one hero showed up and dove straight into the ocean. They grabbed the kid and brought him back to shore safely. I thought that hero was really amazing for what they did. Soon I wanted to be a hero myself."

"I see." Dan said.

"What about you?" Aquamarine asked. "What made you want to become a hero?"

"Honestly, I just always thought they looked cool." Dan admitted. "But as I worked on training my Quirk, I realized how much effort they put in. That made me respect them all the more."

Aquamarine nodded her head. "Yes. Heroes do work hard. There's no denying that."

The two of them continued to walk together on patrol through the streets. As they turned a corner however, they took notice of a large commotion going on down the block. Police officers also seemed to be present.

Knowing there was trouble, Aquamarine and Dan both hurried over. They made their way through the crowd and up to the police. "What's going on?" Aquamarine asked.

"Ah, Aquamarine. Thank goodness." one of the officers said. He pointed up to the top of the building in front of them. "We have a hostage situation. A villain has a large number of people from this apartment held up on the roof. He's demanding a large sum of money in exchange for the safety of the hostages."

"A hostage situation, huh?" Aquamarine said. She looked up at the building and her eyes glanced to one of the neighboring ones. "Is there a door to the roof of that building over there?"

"That one? I believe so, but why?"

"It's higher up than the roof of the building the villain is on. It'll conceal us while allowing us to get a view of the situation up there." she explained. She turned her head to Dan. "Are you ready? I'll be needing your help with this."

Dan answered with a nod of his head. "You can count on me."

"Good. Then let's move before that villain takes notice of us."

Following Aquamarine's lead, Dan ran with her into the neighboring building. As they ran to the top floor, Dan felt the same rush that he felt during the HSI incident. This wasn't some small disturbance or a bunch of small time crooks. This was a real villain with real lives in danger. He couldn't afford to mess up. It didn't matter if he was a student. Right here, right now, lives depended on him as a hero.

Finally, the two of them made it to the door to the roof. Aquamarine motioned for Dan to quietly follow her as they snuck to the edge while staying as low as possible. She laid down and peaked her head out to look at the situation on the lower roof of the building across from them.

"Seems it's just one villain. I count roughly fifteen hostages." Aquamarine said quietly. "I'll deal with the villain. Once I have his focus on me, I want you to get the hostages off the roof and to safety."

"Understood." Dan said with a nod.

Aquamarine got ready to spring into action, using the moisture in the air to create a membrane of water around her hands. She waited for the villain to be looking away and far enough away from any hostages before jumping off the roof. While airborne, she used the technique she had shown in training the other day and heated up the water around her palms to propel herself straight towards the villain. He took notice of her just a second too late as she crashed into him and sent both of them flying off the roof.

"I'll be taking you on a little trip." Aquamarine smirked, wrapping the villain up with water.

"A hero?!" the villain exclaimed. He grit his teeth and glared at Aquamarine. "I won't let someone like you get in my way!"

Out of nowhere, the water that had been binding the villain was blown away with a powerful gust. Aquamarine steadied herself as she hovered in the air. The villain was also flying like her, keeping a tornado of wind around his lower body to hover. '_Damn. Looks like he's got a powerful wind-based Quirk.'_

"Get lost, hero!" the villain shouted, summoning forth another gust of wind to blow her back. Aquamarine tried to stay steady, but the powerful wind was blowing away the direction of the steam jets that were allowing her to hover. Aquamarine was forced to descend a bit as she looked up at the villain who smirked at her. "Looks like you have some trouble flying there, hero. Want me to give you some lessons?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Aquamarine replied.

Knowing this was his time to act, Dan leaped off the roof he was on and landed on the one with the hostages. He called out to all of them. "Everyone, please stay calm and follow me."

"Thank goodness! We're saved!" one of the scared citizens said.

Dan led the way to the door to the roof. When he tried to open it however, he found it was locked. "Damn. Guess that way's out."

The villain noticed Dan trying to save the hostages and flew towards him. "You heroes are getting on my nerves!"

"All part of the job!" Aquamarine quipped as she came speeding at the villain while he was distracted. She slammed into him and knocked him back, hovering protectively between the villain and the roof. She glanced back at her intern. "I've got this guy! Just focus on getting them to safety!"

Dan considered his options. The door was out, and there likely weren't any other safe ways into the building. Then, an idea came to him. He and Aquamarine had used the roof of another building to get there. He could simply do the same with moving the hostages. He quickly glanced around. Between the two neighboring buildings the one on the right would work better than the left one they had jumped from since the right one was about the same height.

"This way!" Dan said as he motioned for everyone to follow him. He led them to the edge of the roof before taking the water available in his suit and his body to make two long tentacle-like arms. "I'm going to lift everyone across to the other building one at a time. Please stay calm and try not to move much when I'm holding you."

The terrified people nodded understandingly. Dan started with a teenage boy, wrapping his watery appendages around him. He carefully lifted him up and moved him from the roof they were on to the other one. After gently letting him down, Dan brought the tentacles back. "Alright. Next person."

One by one, Dan lifted the people across. All the while, Aquamarine fought a disadvantageous midair battle against the villain. But he couldn't let that worry him. He needed to focus on doing as Aquamarine said and get the hostages to safety. He soon came to a young girl, probably still in grade school. She couldn't have been older than his little sister.

'_Someone her age shouldn't have to go through this.'_ he thought. He showed the girl a warm smile in hopes of keeping her calm. "Alright, you ready?"

The girl was clearly scared, but she nodded her head. "Mhm."

Just as he had done with all the previous hostages, Dan lifted the girl up and began to move her across to the other roof. Meanwhile, Aquamarine continued her fight with the villain, who was growing increasingly agitated.

"Get out of my way!" the villain roared, blasting forth a huge gust of wind.

Aquamarine was blown back a bit, but recovered and stayed hovering. However, the gust of wind hit the roof as well, forcing everyone to brace themselves. Dan tried his best, but being unable to use his arms to stay balanced, he fell down. His water tentacles weakened for a brief moment, but long enough for the girl he was holding to slip from his grip.

"Ahhhh!"

"NO!" a woman, likely the girl's mother, screamed.

Dan didn't know what he was doing as his body moved. Not a single though or strategy of any kind passed through his mind. But the next thing Dan knew, his body dived off the roof and fell, desperate to get to the little girl falling from a height that was several times more than enough to kill her if she hit the ground.

Dan quickly caught up to the girl and wrapped his arms around her. He glanced up. The roof was too far away for him to reach with the limited amount of water he had. There weren't any ledges or railings for him to grab on the sides of the buildings either. He had nothing he could grab to stop their fall.

'_I need wings! Or a jetpack! Anything that could let me fly like Aquamarine!'_ he thought. '_Come on! She said you were capable of doing it! Well it's now or never so just do it!'_

It was a completely subconscious thought. The idea of him having wings like a bird. Just a brief image that he in no way thought was actually possible. But his Quirk took that idea and gave it form. The water from his body burst out from the back of his suit, shattering the tank of water attached to his costume. He took the water that was inside the tank and added it to the water from his body. The water moved around and took the shape of a pair of wings sprouting from his back.

When Dan felt the sensation of falling stop, he opened his eyes. He gasped in shock at what he was. He was midair, but he wasn't falling. Heat radiating from behind him caused him to look at the two large watery wings he had. Water vapor was blasting out from the bottom of them at a high pressure. The lost water being turned into vapor spread out after being expelled and returned back to the wings as water, forming a cycle of evaporation and condensation. He had no idea how he was doing it. Likely it was just pure desperation that grabbed at his Quirk and got it to pull it off somehow. But he was doing it. He was flying.

The young girl in his arms looked at Dan's wings in awe. "Amazing."

"Yeah. It sure is." Dan told her, equally amazed at what was happening right now. "Now how about we go back to everyone else?"

The girl nodded her head and Dan increased the power of the evaporation, causing him to ascend higher. His control was shaky at best, but he managed to get himself and the girl back to the roof in one piece. After that, the evaporation and condensation cycle stopped, and all that was left was the watery wings themselves.

With no idea how to redo what he had just done, Dan went back to carrying the people across to the roof one at a time. He took careful consideration, making sure the fight between Aquamarine and the villain were at a safe enough distance before lifting up each person. But eventually he managed to get everyone across safely. He opened the door to the building and ushered everyone inside. With all of them safe, he ran to the edge and called out to Aquamarine.

"I got them all across! Everyone's safe!"

"Good job, Tsunami!" Aquamarine said. "Now to wrap up things here!"

"Damn you! You're going to pay for this!" the villain glared. He sped at Aquamarine with a hateful cry. But before he could hit the hero, she dodged his attack and held out her arms.

"I really prefer not to use this. But you've forced my hand." Aquamarine said.

As the villain turned to face her, he noticed frost beginning to form on his body in several places. "Wh-What the hell?! What's happening?!"

"You didn't notice it, but the entire time we were fighting, I was sticking moisture from the air onto you. I did it slowly and gradually so you wouldn't notice." she explained. "Your body's covered in it. So what do you think will happen if the temperature of all the moisture is lowered?"

Gradually, the frost began to spread around the villain's body. It expanded to become ice and soon had most of the villain's body encased in it, leaving him completely immobile.

"Frost Prison: Cocytus." Aquamarine said, calling the name of her special technique.

"I-I-I-I-It's so c-c-c-cold!" the villain said as he shivered from the ice.

"If you stay like that for too long, your body will get hypothermia. So I'll deliver you to the police quickly." Aquamarine told him.

Dan watched as Aquamarine descended back to the ground while bringing the villain along with her by controlling the ice. With the situation resolved, he hurried inside the building and made his way back to the streets below.

* * *

After restraining the villain, the police took him away to the station. Thankfully, no one had gotten hurt during the incident. But it had still been a difficult fight for Aquamarine and a trying time for Dan. Regardless of all that however, they succeeded in rescuing the hostages and stopping the villain. Though through the incident, the water container on the back of Dan's costume had gotten destroyed. Thankfully the fabric of his costume was still completely intact, since it was designed to allow water to pass through it freely.

"I apologize for failing to completely keep the villain away from you and the hostages." Aquamarine said as they walked back to the agency together. "It took everything I had just to keep him busy and stay flying."

"It's alright. I honestly should have been paying more attention to what was going on around me." Dan admitted. "I'm just glad none of the hostages got hurt."

"Indeed. You should take every single encounter you have as an experience to improve yourself." Aquamarine told him. "And I'd say you got quite the major improvement this time, considering what you did."

Dan knew what she was referring to. His improvised flight using wings of water. "If I'm being honest, it was a complete spur of the moment thing. I don't think I could do it again on command."

"Even so, you still managed to pull it off, accident or not. Now you have an idea what it felt like when you pulled it off. All you need to do now is think back to that feeling and try to recreate it until you're able to do it at a moment's notice." she said. "We still have a few days left with the internship. We'll work on recreating that move of yours after patrol each day."

"Thank you. I'd appreciate that." Dan told her.

"You know… a name for that technique of yours may make it easier to create an image." Aquamarine pointed out.

"A name, huh?" Dan said as he thought about it. "Out of curiosity, what do you call your flight technique?"

"Hydro Propulsion." she answered. "Though your name is going to have to be different. You used those stylish wings after all."

Dan nodded his head. "Maybe I should go with some type of bird? Hmm…"

Aquamarine let out a small giggle. "You know I talked with that little girl you saved with those wings. She told me it was like you were an angel."

'_An angel, huh?'_ Dan thought.

* * *

It was the middle of the afternoon as Alicia moved with Eternal through the warehouses at the harbor. The police and a few of Eternal's sidekicks were there to back them up. They were moving in on a human trafficking ring that they had finally managed to pin down. With how slippery they were, the heroes couldn't afford to mess this up.

Eternal put a hand to her ear where the communicator was. "Is everyone in position? Good. Move in on my signal." She glanced back to where Alicia was. "We have confirmation of one girl they've kidnapped inside. Amaterasu, you'll wait here for her to come out and escort her to the entrance of the harbor."

"Got it." Alicia nodded.

With everyone ready, Eternal prepared herself. After another couple of seconds, she moved out with some of her sidekicks. They snuck near the warehouse the kidnappers were in. Finally, the heroes and police burst in. Alicia heard a series of loud bangs and crashes, likely the start of the fight going on against the villains. A minute passed by before Alicia caught sight of a girl with dark red hair that seemed to be just a couple years older than her running out of the warehouse. That was likely the girl Eternal had spoken of.

"This way!" Alicia called out, waving her over.

The girl ran with all her might over to Alicia. "Oh thank god! I was so scared!" she said. As she stood next to Alicia, she got a better look at her. "Wait, are you a hero? You're practically my age."

"I'm kind of an intern right now." Alicia admitted. "The police are waiting for us at the entrance to the harbor. Follow me."

The girl nodded her head and followed Alicia as they both ran. They took a series of twists and turns around crates as Alicia took the route she recalled coming through with Eternal. It was a little disappointing that she wasn't getting the chance to be part of the action with fighting the villains. But assuring the safety of the victim came first. She had that lesson drilled into her through her hero basic training.

"We're almost there." Alicia said. As they turned a corner and ran between two crates however, Alicia came to a halt. She signaled for the girl with her to stop as well.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked.

"I thought I heard something." Alicia said. She quietly listened to her surroundings, but heard nothing. Perhaps it was just her imagination or the stress of the situation getting to her. "Never mind. Let's keep-"

Suddenly, Alicia heard something fall right near her. It was a small cylindrical container. Alicia widened her eyes when she realized what it was. "Hold your brea-"

Her words were cut off however when smoke quickly began to expel from the canister. Alicia quickly covered her mouth and nose with her hand to avoid breathing it in, but the girl with her hadn't been fast enough. She quickly collapsed onto the ground.

'_Sleeping gas?'_ Alicia realized. She quickly moved to grab the girl and drag her out of there, but as she moved towards her, she failed to notice the figure come at her from above. One blow to the head was enough to knock her to the ground. Alicia's hand left her face briefly, forcing her to breath in a bit of the gas through her nose. She quickly fell unconscious, just like the girl with her.

**A/N: Hope you liked the new chapter, readers. Not really a whole lot to say this time around. Until next time I guess.**


	17. Chapter 17

Daiki had decided to intern with Best Jeanist due to the pro hero's high ranking. He was both skilled and precise with how he fought. It was going to be a good chance to learn from one of the nation's best heroes.

Of course, he hadn't expected _him_ to be interning with Best Jeanist as well.

"Goddamnit. I picked the wrong place to intern." Bakugo muttered under his breath as he tried to get his now neat hair back to the mess it usually was in. But Best Jeanist's hair-styling work had made it surprisingly difficult to do so.

Daiki let out a sigh. Everyday so far it had been nothing but Bakugo's constant yelling and complaining. It was turning into a headache for him. He knew he was a hot-headed guy from watching him at the Sports Festival, but seeing it up close was another thing entirely.

"This is sudden, but here's a question." Best Jeanist said. "Patrols are meant to deter villains from commiting crimes, but they also have a secondary effect. What is it?"

"If we see villains, we beat them up right away." Bakugo answered with a smirk.

"No." Best Jeanist answered. "Voltman, what do you think?"

Daiki thought to himself as he came up with an answer. "If citizens see heroes walking about, it gives them peace of mind, right?"

"Correct." he said. "It allows the public to see who we are and that we are here for them. Building that strong relationship is vital in becoming a hero."

"Tch, what is this, a courtesy visit?" Bakugo asked.

Suddenly a voice called out to them. "Oh, I've seen him on tv before!"

Daiki glanced back to see a trio of kids staring at them, namely Bakugo. '_They must be talking about the Sports Festival. It wasn't that long ago after all.'_

"He was caught by a villain and looked like he was about to cry, right?"

Looking at Bakugo, Daiki thought he saw a blood vessel burst from him. Thinking back, Bakugo did look similar to a kid on the news a few months back that was attacked by a sludge villain. Could they have been the same person?

"What did you say?!" Bakugo shouted as he turned to the kids.

Bakugo's loud voice caused the kids to begin crying out of fear. Best Jeanist let out a sigh. "Did you already forget what I taught you? Deal with them properly."

"Alright already." Bakugo complained. He looked down at the kids. "You know, I wasn't caught by the villain back then. I was thinking about how to defeat him. It wasn't that I lost. I'm the man who'll become the number one hero! There's no reason for kids like you to worry about me-"

Bakugo's words were cut off as the kids started wailing with tears flowing down their eyes as if they were staring down a villain. Best Jeanist let out a sigh.

Daiki rolled his eyes at Bakugo. "Well you sure have one hell of a winning personality for a hero."

"What was that?! You want to get blasted by me, you Class C loser!" Bakugo shouted as he glared at Daiki. "I'll kill you!"

"That's precisely what I'm talking about." Daiki told him. "If all you ever do is yell angrily at people, you'll never be a hero."

"Shut up! Don't act like you're something special!" Bakugo told him. "A hero is someone who wins, no matter what! I'll prove that I'm the best!"

Daiki watched as Bakugo walked on ahead. He let out a groan. '_Geez. I hope the others are having a better time at their internships than me.'_

* * *

Alicia groaned as she slowly came to. Her senses were still foggy as she tried to organize her thoughts. The first thing she noticed was that she was indoors, and it was rather dark. Her vision slowly became clearer and her eyes adjusted to the dark. She was lying down on a bed, but as she tried to move her body, she soon noticed that her arms were tied behind her back, and her legs were also tied up near her ankles. She struggled as much as she could, but the bindings were too tight to break free.

'_What's going on? Where am I? What happened?'_ Alicia thought. She quickly got herself to calm down before she could panic. '_Ok, calm down and think. What's the last thing you remember? I was escorting the kidnapped girl to the entrance of the harbor. Then… I think I heard something and stopped, didn't I? But after that… ugh, my head. I can't remember anything after that.'_

"Ngh…" The other voice caused Alicia to turn her head and see the girl she had been escorting was lying next to her, tied up in a similar manner as her. "What happened? Where am I?"

"I'm not sure." Alicia said. Suddenly she noticed something. The girl with her was almost entirely stripped of her clothing. She was dressed solely in her bra and underwear. Taking a look at herself, Alicia realized the same was true for her. She was no longer in her costume but was instead nearly naked. And the two of them were laying on what seemed to be a large bed.

The other girl soon realized the same thing. Her eyes widened with fear as her body began to shiver. "No… Oh god, are they going to… No, I don't want this!"

"Hey, listen to me." Alicia told her. "We need to stay calm if we're going to make it through this. I know this is scary, but panicking won't do us any good. I need you to stay calm. Can you do that?"

If Alicia was being honest, she was far from calm. She was absolutely terrified right now. The only thing keeping her from losing it was the mental lessons about dealing with emergency situations she learned in class. Panicking was the worst thing a hero could do in this situation. Not only would it prevent her from thinking clearly, it would cause anyone with them to behave in a similar manner.

To Alicia's relief, the girl nodded her head. "Ok. I'll try to keep calm." she said.

"Good." Alicia said. "Come to think of it, I never got your name."

"It's Chieko." the girl said. "What about yours?"

"Alicia. Though my hero name is Amaterasu."

"Alright then. So what do we do, Alicia? Any ideas?" Chieko asked.

"I'm still working on that." Alicia told her. She tried to maneuver her fingers enough to fire a small bullet of sunlight at the restraints around her wrists to free herself. But when she tried to fire off her Quirk, nothing came. She tried again and again, but not even the tiniest spark came from her fingertips.

Alicia wondered what was going on. Was she out of juice? No, that couldn't have been the case. She had been outside for hours on patrol with Eternal in perfectly sunny weather and had barely used her Quirk. Could her Quirk have been temporarily erased? Unlikely. The only one she knew capable of that was Mr. Aizawa at U.A, and even he could only keep a person's Quirk erased for a short time. She considered the possibility of a drug that temporarily erases Quirks, but no such drugs existed as far as she knew. Her eyes lingered around the room as she thought , until she came across her answer.

There was a window in the room. And although the curtains were closed, she could see a small area of light shining on the floor near the window. But rather than the bright light of the sun, it was the pale blue light of nighttime.

'_The moon is out. That's why I can't fire off any energy blasts.'_ Alicia realized. Her eyes widened in fear. If it was nighttime, did that mean she had transformed. Taking a quick look at herself, Alicia saw that was not the case. Although it was night, no moonlight had directly shined onto her body so she still looked like her normal self for now. While that part relieved her, the fact remained she was basically Quirkless right now.

As Alicia thought about what to do, the door to the room opened. The two girls were completely silent as they watched a figure walk into the room. He turned on the lights, though they were rather dim so they didn't brighten up the room much. But now they had a good look at their captor.

He had a mutant-type Quirk, that much was obvious. He looked less like a human and more like an evil boogeyman from the nightmares of little kids. His skin was purple and he stood practically eight feet tall looking like a large bulging monster.

Chieko widened her eyes. "I-I remember you! You were with those creeps that kidnapped me!"

Alicia gasped as she heard this. "But Eternal and the police raided your hideout! Don't tell me you guys knew about it beforehand!"

"Nah, nothing like that." the man said. "I'm guessing the rest of them got rounded up and arrested. Believe it or not, it was pure chance I was away at the time. I was walking around when I heard a commotion. I saw the raid going on and could tell things were going south fast. So I booked it." A grin then came to his face, or at least what Alicia assumed was a grin from his face. "But then I came across two pretty girls running away, all alone. No way could I pass that chance up."

"You creep!" Chieko yelled at him. "You can't sell me off now, so you're just going to use us as your playthings, is that it?!"

"Playthings? I think you've got the wrong idea there, cutie." he said. He slowly walked over to the bed. "You know, as much as they tried, there were some girls those guys just couldn't sell. But there was never a case of any bodies showing up related to us. Wanna guess why?"

"You mean you took them and used them for yourselves?" Alicia asked, disgusted by the man and his implications.

"Sorry, wrong answer." he said. He crept in towards Alicia, with his grin growing all the more revolting. But even she hadn't expected the next thing to happen. The villain bringing out his tongue and licking her cheek with it. Drool dripped from his mouth and Alicia's eyes widened in horror as the realization of where he was going with this finally dawned on her. She didn't even need him to tell her the answer, but he said it anyway. "It's because you can't find a body if it's been digested."

Alicia's body shivered in fear. This couldn't be real, right? It had to be a nightmare. A horrible dream that she just needed to wake up from. "You… You _ate _them?"

"That's right." he said as he rubbed his belly. "My buddies used me to clean things up for them."

Alicia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Judging from his size, she didn't doubt his stomach was probably big enough to hold a person if he swallowed them whole. And mutant Quirks that made cannibalism possible weren't completely unheard of. But it was too horrific, too inhumane, to even consider. She never would have imagined someone being this sick.

"The girls they always gave me were the ugly losers that didn't sell though." he said. "No matter how much I asked them, they didn't let me have even one of the pretty ones. Said it would cut into profits." He looked at the two girls and licked his lips. "But that doesn't matter now. My buddies all got captured and our operation is done. So they can't complain if I finally get the meal of my dreams."

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Chieko screamed. "Please! Somebody! Help us! There's a sicko trying to eat us!"

"Don't bother. This is my private meal room. The walls of this building are soundproof." he said. He came close to Chieko and licked her body too, enjoying her taste. "But do go on screaming and crying if you want. It really whets my appetite."

Alicia wasn't sure which idea disgusted her more. What she had thought he was going to do to them before, or what he was actually going to do to them now. But one thing was clear in her mind. She had to think of something fast or they were both going to meet their end in a way she wouldn't wish on anybody.

'_Come on! Think! There has to be something I can do!'_ Alicia desperately tried to think of a plan. Any possible way for the two of them to escape.

"Which one should I eat first?" he asked aloud, looking back and forth between the two girls tied up on the bed. His gaze finally fixated on Alicia. "How about you, little hero girl?"

Alicia's body shivered in fear. She didn't have much time left. She needed to come up with an idea now. As she looked around the room, her eyes focused on something. The window. It was closed and was probably soundproof like the rest of the room, so there was no way she could call for help. But that wasn't the idea coming to her mind right now. She had a different one. It was an idea she really didn't want to use and almost hated, but the thought of the fate that awaited her if she did nothing was something she hated even more.

"I'll be sure to savour your taste. Don't worry." the man said as he leaned in towards Alicia, licking her with his tongue and preparing to swallow her whole.

"Wait!" Alicia exclaimed. "I'll let you eat me however you want. I'll do whatever you say. Just please… listen to my final request."

"Final request?" he asked. "What is it?"

Alicia gulped. It all came down to this. Everything depended on whether or not she could convince him. "Ever since I was little… I always loved looking up at the moon at night. Could you please… let me look up at the moon one last time. Just through that window over there."

The man looked at Alicia, judging whether she had an ulterior motive in mind or not. Alicia looked as scared as she could to try and convince him that this was nothing more than the last wish of a terrified girl about to die. She didn't have to act too much though. With the thought of what awaited her if this failed lingering in the back of her mind, fear was one of the biggest emotions she was feeling right now.

Finally, the villain gave into Alicia's request. "Fine. But try anything funny like calling outside for help, and I'll bite you in half. Got it?"

Alicia nodded her head. The man grabbed her by her arm and dragged her over to the window. He opened the curtain and held Alicia in front of him.

"There. Look at your pretty moon."

It was late at night. Not a single person was outside. But that didn't matter right now. The only thing that mattered was that the moon was clearly visible in the sky. And its light was shining through the window and onto Alicia.

She had to stall this out. She needed to get enough moonlight stored inside her body to transform. It was rather ironic now that she thought about it. For most of her life, Alicia had done everything she could to avoid letting moonlight shine on her. But now both her and Chieko's lives depended on it happening.

"There. You saw the moon. Happy now?" he said.

"Please, just a few more seconds." Alicia pleaded. '_Come on! Hurry up!'_

The villain decided to humor Alicia and give her another few seconds. Towards the end of it, Alicia felt her body begin to tingle. It was finally starting.

"Alright, it's been long enough." the villain told her as he prepared to devour her. "I'm hungry and it's time for you to get comfortable in my stomach."

"Not happening." Alicia growled. "Like hell am I gonna let myself end up as your dinner."

"Huh? What was that you-" the villain stopped short as he gasped at seeing Alicia's hair turn a shimmering silver, and fur of the same color begin to grow on parts of her body. The sudden change in appearance caused the villain to stumble back slightly "Wh-What the hell?! What's going on?!"

With her increased physical abilities from the transformation, Alicia tugged at the bindings around her wrists. Her strength was too much for them to withstand anymore and the rope ripped, freeing her arms. She then took her sharp nails and cut the rope tied around her legs with one clean slash.

"You… You tricked me!" the villain exclaimed. He glared and lunged at Alicia. "You damn bitch!"

Alicia ducked and avoided the bite from the villain. She then reeled her arm back and delivered a powerful punch to his gut. The villain felt the air rush out of his lungs as he stepped back and coughed.

"You know something?" Alicia said as she glared at the villain. "You are-" She kicked off the ground and hit him with another punch that sent him crashing through the door of the room. "-a REALLY disgusting scumbag!"

The blow the villain took knocked him out as he laid unconscious on the floor. Alicia hurried over to the bed and cut the rope bindings on Chieko. The second she was free, Chieko hugged Alicia tightly.

"Thank you, Alicia! Thank you so much! I thought we were going to die!"

"It's fine now. Don't worry." Alicia said as she tried to comfort her. She could hardly blame Chieko for her current emotional state. Even she herself was still a little shaken up by everything that had just happened.

The two of them found their clothes laying on the far side of the room. They grabbed them and hurried out of the room, rushing to get out of the house as fast as possible. When they got near the door to the building however, blinding lights suddenly lit up from outside.

"No way! I thought he was alone!" Chieko gasped. "Could there be other villains here?!"

"Can't be! Eternal and the police raided their hideout! That guy said it was just him who escaped!" Alicia said. She silently signalled for Chieko to stay put as she made her way over to the window. It was tough to see with how bright the lights were, but Alicia was able to make out the figures outside. When she saw who was there, relief washed over her. "It's the police! Eternal too!"

Chieko's face brightened. She rushed to the door with Alicia and the two of them hurried outside. When they saw the two girls, the police rushed to secure them and ensure they were alright.

"Amaterasu!" Eternal exclaimed as she ran to her intern. "Are you alright?! Did the villain do anything to you?!"

"I'm fine. I promise." Alicia assured the woman. "There's one villain inside, but he should still be knocked out."

"Understood." Eternal said. She looked to her sidekicks. "Move in and get the villain restrained."

"Yes ma'am!" the sidekicks obediently said as they ran inside.

Alicia let out a sigh of relief that the scariest ordeal of her life so far was finally over. "How did you find us?"

"The rest of that villain's friends were rounded up in the raid. When we went back to the harbor entrance, the police said you never arrived. So, after a bit of a personal interrogation with the group, I… persuaded them to tell me where I could find their remaining member. They told me he was likely here."

Alicia could only imagine what Eternal meant by "persuaded", but she imagined it wasn't fun for the villains. Suddenly, a realization ran through Alicia's head. "By the way… I'm sorry, Eternal. I fought the villain in there, even though I'm not supposed to without permission."

Eternal let out a sigh. "It's fine. Given the situation, I doubt you had much choice in the matter. We'll say I gave permission. It's my fault this happened anyway. I should have sent one of my sidekicks with you just to be safe."

"No, it's not your fault." Alicia assured her. "There's no way you could have known this would happen."

"I'm just relieved to see you're unharmed." Eternal told her. "That said, I'm very impressed you managed to handle things here all on your own. And while using this part of your Quirk too."

So much had happened that Alicia had nearly forgotten she was currently transformed, not to mention almost completely naked. She quickly hurried to put her costume back on. Once she did, she brought the hood of her costume up and let it cover her head.

Eternal showed Alicia a warm smile. "Amaterasu- no. Alicia. You're still afraid of this part of yourself? Isn't this part of your Quirk responsible for you overcoming this ordeal?"

"Well… yes, but-"

"Alicia!" Chieko's voice caught her attention as the girl ran over to her. She had a blanket over her to cover her exposed body. "I wanted to thank you again. You're quick thinking saved us."

"It really wasn't anything special." Alicia said, turning her head away.

Chieko narrowed her eyes. "Alicia, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Alicia said.

"Is it because of how you look now?" Chieko asked. "If that's all it is, then don't worry."

"You say that, but…"

Chieko grabbed Alicia's hood and pulled it off her head after struggling with Alicia over it. Alicia showed an embarrassed blush with how she looked right now.

But to her surprise, Chieko showed her a smile. "What's with that look? I think you look really cool."

Alicia widened her eyes as she looked at the girl. "Chieko…"

"I mean, you totally knocked that villain flat on his ass with that form. What could be cooler than that?"

"You mean… you don't think I look hideous like this?"

"Hideous?" Chieko questioned. "No, I wouldn't say that. It's just… different. It's something to set you apart from others. And there's nothing wrong with that."

"You… You really think so?"

"Of course." Chieko told her. She leaned in and hugged Alicia. "Thanks again for saving my life. I'll never forget this."

After separating herself from Alicia, Chieko went with the police to give them her full detailed account of what happened before being brought back to her family. Alicia was glad to see Chieko's life was finally going to go back to normal again.

"So, this whole time you were just afraid of your Quirk at night because you thought it made you look ugly, huh?" Eternal asked.

"... Yes." Alicia admitted. "I know it's not very fitting for a hero to think like that. And you were right, Eternal. Tonight showed me that there are going to be times where I'll need to use this part of my Quirk."

Eternal let out a sigh. "Well, I suppose I can't blame you too much for being afraid of how you look. I'd be a hypocrite if I did."

Alicia narrowed her eyes at the hero. "What do you mean?"

"You recall that my Quirk lets me store up the life energy of others into my body to use as energy to fire off, right?" Eternal asked. "Well, having an abundance of energy has another effect on me too."

"What's that?" Alicia asked.

Eternal closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, energy began to flow out from the hero. It was warm and comforting. But as it left her body, Eternal's appearance began to change. Her smooth skin began to grow wrinkled and her chestnut hair turned gray and fragile. Before Alicia knew it, the beautiful woman that seemed to be in her twenties now looked like she was well over the age of eighty.

"Eternal…" Alicia gasped. "You're…"

"Eighty-seven." the old woman standing in front of Alicia said. "That's how old I am. But by absorbing the life energy of others into my body, I can regain my youth, both in appearance and physical ability. It's a secret that very few people know about."

"Amazing…" Alicia said in awe. "I never would have imagined this."

"I used to be so afraid of growing old. There were times I'd hold back my Quirk more than I should have, or absorbed more energy than I should have from others, all because I was afraid of reverting back to my real age." Eternal explained. "Silly, isn't it? Everyone grows old at some point. And you don't see any of them running from it. It took me a couple decades, but I eventually came to see that even old age has its own unique charm."

"And I've basically been doing the same thing." Alicia realized.

"I can't fault you. I was far older than you when I came to terms with reality. But I do think you should think about what this appearance of yours helped you accomplish tonight." Eternal told her. "Now come. Let's head back to the agency. I'm sure you must be exhausted after everything that happened today."

Alicia had no arguments for the woman as she walked along with her. It had been quite possibly the scariest day of Alicia's life. But in a weird way, she was still glad it had happened. Because right now, at this moment, she had never felt more at peace with herself.

"Hey, Eternal?" Alicia said. "I thought about it a bit, and… I think I'm going to change my hero name."

"Oh really?" Eternal said. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, my Quirk doesn't just come from the sun. It comes from the moon too." Alicia said. "So I'm thinking of going with… Amateyomi."

"A mix between the names of the goddesses of the sun and moon, huh?" Eternal said. "I think it sounds great."

**A/N: And that's it for the internship arc everyone. Hope you liked it. Next chapter will be the start of a new mini-arc. Look forward to it.**


	18. Chapter 18

It had been a long week of internships for everyone. They had all been gone for a full week, each at their own separate internships. But now they were all back at school and they couldn't wait to tell everyone about their internships.

"No way! You got to help deal with villains, Hyde?!" Jill exclaimed.

"It wasn't that big of a deal." Hyde told her. "I just helped out with evacuation, along with one of the Class A students."

"Still that must have been exciting." Jill said.

"I had someone from Class A with me on my internship too." Fiona said. "We basically went out on ocean patrol each day. Though there was one time we helped catch some smugglers from another country."

"Seriously?! That's so badass!" Shiro said.

Nene glanced over at Shinobu. "And how did the big bad Shinobu do at his internship."

"I'm not obliged to tell you anything." Shinobu said. "If you want to gossip around like a bunch of idiots, go ahead. But leave me out of it."

"I see the internship didn't do much to help his personality." Hikari muttered.

"Oh hey, did you guys hear about the Hero Killer! They say they caught him!" Jill added.

"That's a relief. It was really scary knowing there was a mass murderer running around." Sakura said.

"I heard a few of the Class A students got attacked by him. But they were saved by Endeavour." Rekka commented.

"That's the Number 2 Hero for you." Satoshi nodded.

Marcus looked over towards Sarah. "What about you? Learn anything useful?"

"Yeah. I think I picked up a few useful tips." Sarah nodded. "It's far from perfected, but I think I'm getting close to having my own unique fighting style."

Each of them had gone through different experiences at their internships. For some, it was simply daily patrols and training sessions. For others like Alicia, there were far more eventful moments that occurred during their internships. But one thing was for certain. Each of them had grown stronger in some way or form as a result of the past week.

After going through the daily morning class like math and writing, it was finally time for the class that all of Class C was looking forward to. Hero basic training. This was going to be their first time getting the chance to show off what they had learned during their internships.

After getting changed into their costumes, Class C stood together outside one of the training fields for U.A. The field before them looked like a complex factory setting that seemed rather easy to get lost in. The teacher in charge of them for today was none other than All Might.

"Anyway, we'll start now. Right. It's Hero Basic Training!" All Might said. "Long time no see, boys and girls! How've you been? For this time's Hero Basic Training, since you've all just gotten back from your internships, we'll have some fun with a rescue training race!"

"Rescue training?" Sakura questioned. "Shouldn't we be doing this at USJ in that case?"

"That place is for training for disasters." All Might explained. "Do you remember what I said? That's right, I said "race"! This is Field Gamma! A dense area filled with factories laid out like an intricate labyrinth. You'll break up into four groups of five and go through the training one group at a time. When I send out a distress signal from somewhere inside, you'll all start at once from the outskirts of the city! It's a race to see who will rescue me first! Of course, you'll have to keep damage to buildings and such to a minimum."

Hyde couldn't help but feel that All Might's remark was aimed mostly at him. It was true that he had been known to get a little reckless with his Quirk. The aftermath of the fight he and some of the others had with the villain Cougar was proof of that.

'_But it won't be like before. You'll see just how much better I've gotten.'_

The first group was decided to be Dan, Hyde, Satoshi, Marcus, and Nene. Each of them took their starting positions at different areas around the training field. The rest of the class sat together and watched from the monitor.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Jill asked.

"In a field like this, those good in the air have an advantage. So probably Marcus or Satoshi." Daiki said.

"Yeah. Dan's got good mobility if he uses that water tentacle arm thing like in the Sports Festival, but he can't get a bird's eye view." Lilina nodded in agreement.

"In Hyde's case, his mobility is pretty crap. And Nene's is just ok." Fiona pointed out. "They got a bad matchup all around."

"Okay, here we go!" All Might declared. "Start!"

At All Might's call, the five students quickly got moving. Most eyes were on Satoshi and Marcus, both of whom seemed to have improved their flying abilities as they leaped into the air and took off. They seemed to be free as birds as they flew towards the goal.

"See? Told you." Daiki said.

"Wait!" Alicia commented. "Look at Dan!"

Everyone's eyes went to the screen showing Dan and all of them gasped. Using water tentacles for arms, he hooked them around one of the metal pipes and flung himself into the air. Afterwards, he brought the water back into his body.

'_I still don't have full control of it yet. Compared to Aquamarine's technique, it's sloppy at best.'_ Dan thought. '_But still… this symbolizes how far I came this past week.'_

He recalled Aquamarine's words to him. About how the little girl he had saved viewed him like an angel. Those words meant a lot to him. So he could only think of one name appropriate for his new move.

"Hydro Angel!"

At his command, a pair of watery wings grew out from his back. Water vapor expelled from them aimed at the ground to keep him in the air as he flew. Everyone watching him gasped in awe.

"Holy crap! He's flying!"

"How is he doing that?!"

"Amazing! I was wondering why he got rid of the water tank from his costume!"

Dan wobbled in the air, still not having full control over the technique. He still struggled at using the moisture in the air to add to his water source. But with the water from his own body, his control over changing its state of matter was much better.

But Dan wasn't the only one with new surprises. Hyde was making large pillar-like structures to get around at a high altitude. Normally, one would question if this was taking his reshaping of the terrain too far since it was an industrial area and they were supposed to keep damage to their surroundings to a minimum. But as he jumped off each pillar, they sank back into the ground as if nothing had changed.

"He's reverting the area back to normal as he moves around. That's gotta take a lot of precise control." Kenji noted.

"Looks like Nene's moving around well too. Look." Jill said.

True to Jill's words, Nene was maneuvering around in the air quite well. She formed clones one after another to grab and throw her where she needed to go. After using up one, she got rid of the clone and made a new one. Each clone threw her with a large amount of force, propelling her forward.

"Man, they've all really improved this past week, huh?" Shiro noted.

The five students rushed through the course as they hurried to All Might's position. None of them wanted to lose after making such an improvement. It was rather close, but soon the winner was decided.

"Congratulations, Young Cersy." All Might said. "Your aerial movements have gotten a lot better."

"Thank you, sir." Marcus said with a thankful bow.

"It's not just Young Cersy though. All of you have gotten much better at using your Quirks since the beginning of the year." All Might told them. "You should all be very proud of your progress. Keep going like this and start preparing for your final exam!"

"Yes, sir!"

After the first group left, the other three groups went at it one at a time. Each of the students had clearly improved based on how they moved through the field. Jill was bouncing around, jumping off the walls and objects around the field, maximizing her speed. Vivi was flying around with much more precision and speed. Sakura was using the plants available from her costume to help her move around easier.

Class C had taken a strong next step towards their dream of becoming pro heroes.

* * *

_It was an ordinary day in the city as a young girl walked along with her mother. The sky was clear. The breeze was refreshing. Everything was so peaceful._

"_Mommy, can we go get some ice cream later?" the little girl asked. She had dark maroon-colored hair and bright yellow eyes._

"_Sure, Fujino." the mother told her with a warm smile. "Do you want to try a new flavor this time?"_

"_Nuh uh." Fujino said. "Chocolate's the best flavor ever!"_

_The mother let out a small giggle at her daughter. "If you say so, Fujino, but it won't hurt to try other flavors."_

_Fujino smiled innocently as she skipped along at her mother's side. Nothing seemed like it could go wrong. But in a society of Quirks, there was always something that went wrong._

_It happened out of nowhere, the window of a nearby store shattered as a man burst through it. In his hands was a large amount of cash. The alarm from the store was blaring as what seemed to to be the shop owner rushed out and shouted towards the man who had run off. "Come back! Thief!"_

_Fujino's mother was caught off guard by the sudden robbery happening before their eyes. "How awful. I hope there's a hero nearby." she said. "Are you alright Fuji-" The mother suddenly gasped as she looked at her daughter. Fujino was on her knees with her hands covering her ears. Her entire body was shivering. The mother quickly knew what was going on with her daughter and kneeled down at Fujino's side. "No Fujino, calm down! Everything's alright! You're safe! Fujino sweetie, you need to calm down!"_

"_Uhhh... Uhhh… AHHHHHH!" Fujino screamed as she looked around randomly. Suddenly, a couple buildings ahead of them, a small part of space distorted and warped into a vortex shape. It didn't last longer than a second however, but right then and there, an explosion occurred._

_All of the citizens around were caught off guard by the sudden explosion. It hadn't been very big, but it happening in thin air had everyone on edge. Luckily, no one seemed to have been seriously hurt by it. The worst was a few people knocked down from the shockwave._

_Fujino's mother looked around. Thankfully, no one seemed to be suspicious of Fujino or realized that she was the source of the explosion just now. She lifted her daughter up in her arms. "Come, Fujino. Let's go home."_

"_I'm sorry mommy." Fujino muttered with tears rolling down her eyes. "I didn't mean to. The noise was just so scary. I lost control again."_

"_I know sweetie. I know." her mother said as she walked away while carrying her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card. She had to do it. There was no other choice. "We're going to contact some people that may be able to help you."_

* * *

Fujino shot up with a jolt, gasping as she felt her heart racing to the point that she thought it would burst right out of her chest. Slowly, she managed to calm down and relax her breathing. '_It was just a dream.'_ she realized.

Once she had fully calmed down, Fujino looked at her surroundings. She was in a small simple room with a reinforced glass wall on the end with the door, giving her a clear view of the outside of the room. She was in a holding cell, a room she had become all too familiar with.

'_I must have lost control and passed out during training again.'_ Fujino realized. It was the only reason she could think of, since she didn't remember coming into the holding cell or falling asleep.

The holding cells were usually where they brought those who passed out, or were acting rowdy. A timeout room to calm oneself, they called it. Fujino couldn't help but laugh at that description. It was there to teach the kids to behave, plain and simple.

Fujino had been brought to holding cells more times than she could count since coming here. At first, it had just been from her acting out. But even after she accepted her fate, she ended up in them often enough due to losing control with her Quirk and passing out as a result of the stress.

She remembered the initial reason for coming here. All of this was an organization called Paradise. They claimed to be a group that helped kids learn to control their Quirks, focussing on those that had trouble controlling them even after regular Quirk counseling sessions that all kids went through at a young age. Fujino was one such person that still had little control over her Quirk despite the counselling sessions. Eventually, her mother decided they needed more help and contacted Paradise, who a coworker of hers had told her about. To help Fujino get full control of her Quirk, she had to be brought to a special center where they took kids to give them daily help with Quirk control.

That was three years ago.

At first, it had just been as the advertisement had said. She had kind adults helping her each day to get better control of her Quirk, along with other kids who faced problems similar to hers. But about a month or two after, she was brought to a different facility. There, she learned what Paradise really was.

On the surface, Paradise claimed to be an organization meant to help kids learn to control their Quirks. It was a business that had grown popular in recent years with Quirks slowly getting stronger and more complex as the generations went on. But what they were really after was finding kids with powerful Quirks, and training them to be human weapons for their personal use. And with Fujino having a Quirk that let her create explosions out of thin air with her mind, there were few that could be considered more perfect than her for being a weapon. The majority of those at these secret facilities were orphans, people that no one would miss if they suddenly vanished without a trace. There were others like Fujino who had originally been brought to Paradise by their parents in hopes of learning to control their Quirks, but they were the minority.

Paradise had even helped out Fujino's mother by offering her a job with them to allow her daughter to be at the institution for free. She had to move to their branch in Europe apparently, but she was happy with it so long as her daughter got the help she needed. They sent her pictures of Fujino, forged to make it look like she was happy and progressing well, but it was all a lie. Fujino was now one of the thousands of subjects Paradise was training to become weapons, and her mother was one of the many workers for the organization that were completely blind to what was actually going on. The perfect set up to ensure no one found out the truth.

Fujino's days were now spent doing stressful tests to try and control her Quirk and training up her physical body. She wasn't seen as a person. None of the kids here were. She hated every minute of it, but there wasn't much she could do. If she acted out, she was punished. Punishments started out with small timeouts in holding cells, but if they continued it usually got much worse. It typically took only one of the "bad" punishments for a kid to get in line. Those that were stubborn or stupid enough to keep acting out after that… nobody saw them again.

Fujino's thoughts were interrupted as a knock was heard at the door to her cell. One of the scientists that worked for Paradise was standing on the other side. "I heard you had some issues again during training, Miss Hatsu."

"Yeah." Fujino replied simply, not even bothering to look the man in the eye.

"I trust you've calmed down by now." he said. "If you have, I can escort you to the cafeteria for dinner."

"Fine." Fujino said as she got up from the bed. The scientist swiped a card and opened the door to Fujino's cell, letting her out. Fujino followed him as she was escorted through the hallways of the facility. Eventually they reached the cafeteria and she was ushered inside.

Hundreds of kids were sitting at long tables together as they ate. Every single one of them wore the same plain white shirt and pants that Fujino had on. She went over and grabbed a food tray, moving along the line as she got her meal. After that she sat down at the first open spot she could find.

With her Quirk being as dangerous as it was, Fujino didn't really have any friends there. At best, she'd make small talk with some of them if spoken to. She kept to herself and prefered it that way. What good were friends when none of them had any hope of having a real future anymore?

Dinner today was chicken with a cup of rice and some vegetables on the side. Fujino sat quietly as she ate. Meals were usually quiet for the most part, outside of the occasional talks between some people. That was especially true for dinner, since most of the kids had gone through their daily dose of hell and were not in the mood to talk.

As Fujino was in the middle of eating, the relative silence in the cafeteria ended as a shout was heard. "Hey! That was mine!"

Wondering who was making such a racket, Fujino turned her head towards the voice over by the food serving area. She saw two young boys, probably both around 10 if not younger, grabbing at each other.

"That ice cream cup was mine!"

"Nuh uh! It's mine!"

"I grabbed it first!"

"Oh really? Where's your name on it then?"

Fujino sighed. She realized any kind of desert was a nice treat compared to the slop they usually got to eat, but it wasn't worth fighting over. She just wished they would quiet down quickly.

However, things only seemed to escalate as one of the boys blasted fire from his palms. "You jerk! Eat this!"

The other boy quickly dodged and attacked with his own Quirk, firing off a cannonball from his mouth. They blasted each other with their Quirks and the others near them quickly became caught in the crossfire. Fujino saw a stream of flames come her way and quickly lunged out of the way. The others nearby began to scream in fright. An alarm soon sounded and the workers there burst into the room to separate the two boys that were fighting.

The screams and alarms rang in Fujino's ears. The sudden nature of them caused pain to erupt in her head. And then she felt the sensation she dreaded. The sensation she always got when her Quirk was trying to unleash itself.

'_No… Not again… Not now…'_ Fujino thought as she tried to hold back her Quirk. But it was too late. Her eyes locked onto one of the walls in the cafeteria. A small distortion in space occured at one spot of the wall.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

The explosion only added onto the chaos going on in the cafeteria. As the smoke cleared, she could see that her Quirk had blown a gaping hole. Now she had done it. They were going to throw her in a holding cell again for sure. That fear only added to her panic. She soon felt her Quirk trying to activate once again.

'_No… No…'_ Fujino thought. But she couldn't hold it in. Her eyes locked further past the hole she had made. "NOOOO!"

Another explosion occurred. Tears fell down Fujino's eyes as she began to imagine what was going to be waiting for her once the situation got under control and they realized what she did. But as worry overtook her, a sudden sensation snapped her out of it. A cold breeze, nipping at her face. At first, she thought it was someone's Quirk. But as she looked up, she realized that wasn't the case. She had made another hole with her Quirk in the wall past the first hole she made. And through there, she saw something she hadn't seen in quite some time.

The outside.

She didn't know what she was doing. All she knew was that nothing but misery awaited her if she stayed still. She got to her feet and ran through the cloud of smoke from the explosions. After running through the two holes she had made, her feet finally touched the soft ground rather than the cold marble flooring she was used to. She did the only thing she could think of at that moment.

She ran.

Nothing else went through her mind. She didn't have a single plan in mind. All she could do was move her legs as they carried her further and further away. Fujino ran straight into the woods. She hadn't known where this special facility was, since she was blindfolded when brought here, but now it made sense why no one else knew of its existence.

If she was caught, it would be over. No doubt the workers there would find out of her escape within ten minutes tops. And if they found her, she would likely end up as one of those kids who was never seen or heard from again. But she hadn't thought that far ahead when she ran away.

'_I need to get away. I don't want to be here. Anywhere but here.'_ Fujino thought to herself. There was no way to tell where the direction she was running would lead her, but she couldn't afford to stop and give the workers any more of a chance to catch up. The physical training she had gone through the past three years was finally paying off as it helped her to continue running without getting too tired. That and the adrenaline pumping through her body of course.

Eventually though she did grow tired. She allowed herself short breaks to catch her breath before breaking out into a sprint all over again. Fujino didn't know how much time passed as she ran. An hour? Maybe longer? But when she finally saw an end to the trees, relief washed over her.

She saw what appeared to be a city as she broke out of the woods. There was still a downward grassy slope between her and the city itself, but at least it was something. As she took a step however, she tripped and fell. Her body slid and tumbled down the hill. Fujino was too exhausted to stop herself and her body simply continued to tumble down. When she finally reached the bottom of the slope, she tried to get up, but lacked the strength. She was completely drained from her desperate escape.

The last thing she remembered was seeing a car with red and blue lights flashing on top of it pull over. A man got out of the car and rushed over to her. "Hey! Are you okay?! Hey!"

**A/N: Hey readers. Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of the newest arc for the story, and the introduction of Fujino. What's that? you want to know more? Well too bad. you'll have to be patient and wait for the next chapter.**


	19. Chapter 19

Fujino moaned as her eyes blinked open. She sat up and let her blurry vision slowly clear up. Once her senses were back to normal, she took a quick look at her surroundings. She was on a bed in a small room. There were walls on three ends and bars on the final one.

'_Wait, bars?!'_ Fujino thought as she realized she was in a cell. She frantically looked around. Had Paradise's workers managed to catch up to her and bring her back? Was she going to be made to disappear? Her breathing sped up as she began to panic.

"Hello? Miss? Are you awake?"

Fujino quickly turned to the bars and saw a man standing on the other side of them. At first, she had thought he was one of Paradise's workers, but when she looked closer, she noticed his outfit. It was that of a police officer.

"Where am I?" Fujino asked.

"You're at the Tokyo Police Station." the man explained. "We found you unconscious near the woods late last night and brought you here."

The police station? Then this wasn't one of Paradise's facilities. Fujino relaxed her breathing and slowly managed to calm down.

"You're probably hungry I'd imagine." the officer said. He brought a cup of instant ramen and walked to the door of the cell. "Why don't you have something to-"

"Stay back!" Fujino shouted.

The officer was caught off guard by the sudden shout. "It's nothing toxic, I promise. It's just ram-"

"I said stay back!" Fujino yelled again, hugging her arms around her knees into a huddle position. "Please… I don't want to hurt anyone…"

The officer stared at her in confusion for a moment before widening his eyes in realization. "You can't control your Quirk, can you?" Fujino's reply was a silent nod of her head. The officer let out a sigh. "I see. I've seen a few of your kind over the years. Don't worry, I'll just leave this here. You can grab it whenever you like."

Fujino waited for the officer to put the cup down and walk out of the cell. After she heard the door lock, she got up and walked over to the cup, making sure to not look past the door. She then picked up the cup after reaching it and walked back to her bed. She took a small sip. Even though it was a cheap convenience store cup of instant ramen, it was miles better than most of the meals she had at the facility she had been in the past three years.

"Can you tell me anything about yourself? Name? Age? Address?" the officer asked. "You didn't have any ID on you, so we don't really know much of anything as to who you are."

Fujino took another small sip of her ramen. She was silent for a few moments before finally deciding to answer. "Fujino Hatsu. Fourteen years old. As for my address… I don't really remember. I haven't been home in a few years."

The officer narrowed his eyes at Fujino. "So are you a runaway then?"

"No." Fujino answered. "I… well…"

She considered telling the officer everything she knew about Paradise. How their whole mission they advertised was a lie. What they were really doing and what a horrific organization they were. But what if he didn't believe her? What if he just sent her back to them?

"It's alright. You're safe here." the officer assured her. "Whatever it is, you can talk about it."

Fujino finally let out a sigh. It was risky, but this might be her one and only chance to put a stop to Paradise. "Are you familiar with an organization known as Paradise?"

"Paradise?" the officer asked. "That's the worldwide organization that works on helping children learn to control Quirks that normal counselors are unable to help with, correct?"

"Yes, that's the one." Fujino nodded. "Except that's only a front to what they're really doing?"

The officer's expresion grew serious. "What do you mean?"

There was no going back now. Fujino had to trust her gut with this. "It's a long story."

* * *

The school bell rang, signalling the end to yet another day of school for U.A High. Class 1-C gathered up their bags and prepared to head home for the day. Their training was slowly getting more and more intense. On top of that, finals were starting to draw near.

"Before everyone leaves, I have one announcement I need to make." Yamagori told the class. "As you all know, summer vacation is right around the corner. However, if you were planning to sunbathe and relax during that time, forget it."

The students widened their eyes, having a feeling where their teacher was going with this. '_Is she saying…'_

"During summer vacation, we'll be having a special training camp in the woods." Yamagori said. "However! Keep in mind that anyone that does not pass the final exam will instead be going through a summer school of hell."

The term "summer school of hell" certainly gave everyone incentive to pass the final exam. But each of them were feeling excited for the training camp at the forefront of their minds. There would be plenty of summer camp activities to do, which meant plenty of fun in store.

"Anyways, that's all. So make sure you're prepared for finals." Yamagori told them before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

With class done and their teacher gone, everyone was silently thinking about the final exam. Or at least… most of them were.

"Hey girls, who's up for a fun time?" Jill asked.

"What's this about?" Fiona questioned.

In response, Jill brought out a flyer from her bag. "Take a look. There's going to be an autograph signing by Jimmi Axediver this afternoon at the mall."

"Seriously?!" Nene asked. "I love Jimmi's music!"

"Who doesn't?" Jill said with a grin. "So, anybody in?"

"Shouldn't you be focusing on preparing for finals?" Alicia asked.

"Finals schminals, we can study for those whenever." Jill said. "This is a once in a lifetime chance! Who's with me?!"

"I'll go." Nene said. "I think I've studied enough for now to take one afternoon off."

"Great, that's one!" Jill said. "Anyone else?"

"I'll go." Rekka said with a rather creepy smile. "I've always wanted to meet Jimmi in person."

"I'll pass." Alicia said. "I want to be fully prepared for finals and there's a few things I'm still having trouble with."

"Same here." Fiona added.

"Party poopers." Jill pouted.

"I can go." Sakura offered. "I'm not really a fan of his, but I needed to buy some things for home anyway."

"Aw yeah! You know where the fun's at Sakura!" Jill grinned. "Who else wants to come?"

"Who the heck is this Jimmi Whatshisname anyway?" Shiro asked.

"Huh?! You're joking, right?!" Jill exclaimed. "He's only like the most amazing musician ever! His song's are mesmerizing!"

"Never heard of him." Shiro said.

"Same here." Daiki added.

"The same goes for me." Satoshi chimed in.

"Geez! Don't you boys know anything about music?!" Jill asked.

"I think I've heard his name before. It was probably my sister." Marcus chimed in. "I don't get what the big deal is."

"Shame! Shame on all of you boys!" Jill yelled as she pointed to each of her male classmates.

"What did I do?" Dan asked.

"Same. I mean, I've never heard of the guy either, but who cares?" Hyde said.

"Indeed. If you wish for a man's company, I would be happy to oblige." Merci spoke with his "charming" smile.

"Yeah… I think we're good." Nene said.

"Well looks like it's me, Nene, Sakura, and Rekka then!" Jill said as she pumped her fist into the air. "Let's go get Jimmi's autograph!"

* * *

Fujino sat quietly in her cell. It had been a few hours since she had spoken to the officer that had greeted her when she woke up. She had talked about everything she knew regarding Paradise. How they were looking for children with powerful Quirks, and training them to be weapons. How awfully she had been treated. She had almost broken down a few times, recalling the pain and suffering she had gone through, but managed to keep herself together and prevent another panic attack.

After she had told her story, the officer said that he was going to need to discuss this with his captain and left. Ever since then, Fujino had simply waited in the cell. Most people would probably be annoyed by being forced to stay in a small cell when they had done nothing wrong, but Fujino was used to it. In an odd way, the familiarity of it was almost relaxing to her.

The silence soon ended however, as Fujino began to faintly hear voices drawing closer. She listened intently to try and hear what was being said.

"Are you sure it would be best?"

"Yes. If she is kept there, we can help her get her Quirk under control."

'_Get my Quirk under control?'_ Fujino thought to herself.

"That would indeed be great. From the sound of it, her Quirk is rather dangerous. But do you think she'll go willingly?"

"It will be hard to convince her, I'm sure. But we must try our best."

Fujino wondered what they were talking about. They were going to keep her somewhere? Where? Suddenly her eyes widened. Was it another facility? Was Paradise involved? They were talking about getting her Quirk under control so the possibility was high.

'_Damnit, I knew I shouldn't have trusted that officer!'_ Fujino told herself. '_What do I do? I can't go back to Paradise. I won't.'_

As she looked around her cell, panic slowly settled in. Thoughts flew everywhere in her head, until she got the sensation she was all too familiar with. The sensation of her Quirk activating.

"Raaaaaahhhhh!"

The thing in the direct line of Fujino's view was one of the walls of the cell. An explosion occurred right inside the cell next to the wall, blasting a hole straight through it. Just like she had done at the facility, Fujino ran straight through it. She found herself outside where the amount of sunlight told her it was likely some time in the early afternoon. People that had been walking around normally all stared at her, caught by surprise from the sudden explosion and the girl that had run out from the gaping hole in the police station wall.

'_I can't trust anyone. Everyone around me could be an enemy.'_ Fujino thought to herself. Panic once again rushed through her head as she stared up into the sky. "Ahhhhhhhh!"

An explosion occurred once again, this time in the middle of the air. The citizens braced themselves and shielded their eyes from the ball of flames that was above their heads for a brief moment. When everything settled down, they all looked towards where Fujino had been standing, only to find she wasn't there.

Soon several officers, as well as Principal Nezu from U.A High School emerged from the hole in the wall. They all looked around for Fujino, but had no sign of her in the immediate area.

* * *

_**-5 minutes earlier-**_

Nezu walked into the Tokyo Police Station. He had gotten a call about a young girl who they might need his people person skills with, on top of wanting his opinion on the matter.

"Ah, Principal Nezu." the police chief said, walking up to the small rodent-like man. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Not at all. I'm happy to help." Nezu said. "I also brought along Eraser Head like you suggested."

Aizawa walked in after the principal. He wore his usual tired expression on his face. "So what's all this about a girl that can't control her Quirk?"

"Right. I'll get more into detail." the chief said. "We haven't managed to uncover any actual proof to the girl's story yet, but this is what she's told us."

The police chief went into detail about the story his officer told him from Fujino. About how she had been forcibly taken to a facility and trained along with other children to become living weapons. And how she managed to escape and make her way here.

When the story was finished, Nezu let out a sigh of pity. Having been experimented on himself, he knew firsthand just how horrific that kind of treatment was. "That poor girl. To have to go through such a thing at her young age."

"We also called in some expert Quirk counselors." the chief added. "We felt all of your help would be beneficial."

"If it would be alright, I'd like to talk with Miss Hatsu myself." Nezu said.

The police chief nodded his head. "Understood. Please follow me."

Nezu and Aizawa walked behind the police chief as they made their way to the holding cell Fujino was in. They decided to talk about the situation on the way there. "So what're your thoughts on the matter, Nezu?" the chief asked.

"It would be best to not let Paradise be aware of her being here for the time being. Just in case she's telling the truth." Nezu suggested. "It would also be best that any investigation done on them be done in secret for now."

"I agree, but what will we do with her in the meantime? Investigating Paradise without raising their suspicion will take weeks."

"Hmm…" Nezu said as he thought to himself. "I know! Why not let U.A be responsible for her for the time being?"

"U.A? But why?" the chief asked.

"She said she's unable to control her Quirk, correct? What better place for her to learn how to control it than there? We have plenty of staff that are experts on the matter, plus Eraser Head to keep her Quirk from going out of control."

The police chief thought to himself. "Are you sure that would be best?"

"Yes. If she is kept there, we can help her get her Quirk under control." Nezu nodded.

"That would indeed be great. From the sound of it, her Quirk is rather dangerous." the chief said. "But do you think she'll go willingly?"

"It will be hard to convince her, I'm sure. But we must try our best." Nezu said.

"I agree. If it's true that her Quirk is powerful, then her being unable to control it would make her a walking time bomb without someone that could erase it." Aizawa added.

"This situation must be approached with the utmost care." Nezu told them. "If she's telling the truth, then-"

The conversation was cut short as a large explosion was heard that shook the police station. After regaining their balance, the three adults hurried to Fujino's cell. When they arrived, they gasped at what they saw. A massive hole was in the wall of the cell, likely caused by the explosion just now.

"Damnit." the chief said as he unlocked the door to the cell and they rushed through the room to the outside. "She's gone."

"Oh dear." Nezu said. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Out of sight of the three adults and the general public, Fujino ran down an alleyway. She had to get away. She didn't know where to go, but she knew now that she couldn't trust anyone. She was completely on her own.

And that terrified her.

* * *

Genjiro Mastsuhari, the president of Paradise, sat in his office. He was a man of 38 years old, with black hair that had small streaks of white visible by his bangs. Befitting the president of a worldwide company, he wore a fancy navy blue suit with a black tie.

It was just this morning that he was informed there had been an incident at one of his company's secret facilities. An incident where one of the subjects there managed to escape in the chaos. A very powerful subject at that.

'_Fujino Hatsu.'_ Genjiro thought to himself, looking at her file. He knew right away after seeing that girl's Quirk that she would be perfect as one of his meta human weapons. She could end up as one of his best warriors in fact. But her being unable to control her Quirk was an issue. Even after three years of training, her Quirk control was still shaky at best. She could do it on command, but there were plenty of instances where it would go off on its own. An unpredictable factor like that could prove disastrous in the field.

"Honestly, that girl is starting to become more trouble than she's worth." he said to himself.

As the president thought to himself, a knock was heard at the door to his office. "Mr. Mastsuhari? I have an update on… that matter."

"Come in." he said.

The door opened and a woman walked into the office. She had short pink hair styled neatly, and sharp red-framed glasses. She closed the door behind her to keep their conversation out of the hearing range of anyone too curious for their own good.

"What is the update, Ms. Kiroki?" Genjiro asked. "Has Fujino Hatsu been located?"

"We are aware of her location." the woman confirmed. "However… retrieving her may prove difficult."

"And why is that?" he asked with a scowl.

"Our sources have told us she's being held in the Tokyo Police Department."

It took all of the president's self control not to scream out curses upon hearing that information. This was the exact situation he had been hoping to avoid. The police being involved meant this matter just became a lot more complicated. If Fujino told the police about the truth behind Paradise, then all his hard work would be ruined.

Getting out of his chair, Genjiro looked out the glass window behind his desk. He took a deep breath to calm himself. This needed to be dealt with before it became a bigger problem than it already was. After a moment, he turned back to his desk and pressed a button. "Tell King to come to my office at once. I have a job for him and his team."

"You're sending _them_ to deal with her?" Ms. Kiroki asked. "Are you sure that is wise? If they get caught as well, then the situation will only worsen."

"I'm sending them precisely because I believe they _won't_ get caught." he told her. "They're skilled, but smart enough to know when a mission becomes too risky. If anyone can resolve this situation under the table, it's them."

Ms. Kiroki nodded her head understandingly. Suddenly, she received a call from her ear piece and brought her hand to it. "Yes? What is it?" she asked. After hearing what the other end had to say, she widened her eyes. "What?! Are you sure of this?! Yes… Yes, I understand. I'll let him know. Thank you."

Genjiro narrowed his eyes at his lead secretary. "What is it now?"

"Apparently there was an explosion at the Tokyo Police Station. The cause seems to have been Miss Hatsu, and now… she's gone."

Genjrio widened his eyes at this. He quickly brought his hand to his chin and he became lost in thought. This might be just the chance they needed. They didn't have Fujino's exact location anymore, but she was no longer in a hard to reach area like a police station. If she was on the run, then that meant she was alone. And that meant she was an easy target.

'_This can work. We may be able to salvage this situation.'_ he thought to himself.

Soon a knock was heard at the door to the office. Not even waiting for an answer, the door opened and a boy in his late teens walked in. He had navy blue hair and wore a simple shirt and pants.

"Yo boss man." the boy said with a smirk. "I hear you've got a job for me?"

Ms. Kiroki adjusted her glasses as she glared at the boy. "You will address him as Mr. Mastsuhari. That attitude of yours is as lacking as ever I see, King."

"I'm pretty sure the boss man cares more about my skills than my manners." the boy known as King replied. He brought his gaze back to Paradise's president. "So what's our mission this time?"

"There's been an incident. One of the subjects, a girl named Fujino Hatsu, broke out of one of our facilities last night. She's on the run, with the police after her." Genjiro explained. "You are to capture her and bring her back to the closest facility you can find. We cannot let any information she knows get leaked."

"Got it." King said. "And… hypothetically speaking… if the target can't be captured alive without making a scene?"

"I would prefer that be avoided, but if it comes to it, eliminate her." Genjiro said. "She has a strong Quirk, so she may be useful given the right… conditioning."

"Understood. I'll let the team know and we'll set out right away, boss man." King told him as he turned to walk away.

After King left, Genjiro turned back to the window of his office. With King's team on the job, he could rest a bit easier. They were his most elite team of meta human soldiers after all. He glanced at the chess board at his desk. "Fujino Hatsu. You may think you're out of reach, but my pieces are already moving in on you. And once they find you, that'll be checkmate."

**A/N: Hey readers. Not much to say this chapter. Hope you're enjoying this arc so far. Plenty of excitement is in store, so look forward to it.**


	20. Chapter 20

"Woo! I love you Jimmi!"

"Jimmi, you're so cool!"

"Marry me, Jimmi!"

The autograph signing event for the famous musician Jimmi Axediver was just as popular as one would expect. Hordes of girls were all gathered there to get even the slightest glimpse of him. At the end of the long line in the mall, Jimmi himself sat at a table signing autograph after autograph.

Jill, Nene, and Rikka were all standing together in line. They were finally nearing the front of it, where they would have the chance they had been waiting the past couple of hours to get.

"Man, I can't believe Sakura didn't join us for this. The second we got here, she said she'd go buy what she needed and meet us after we got our autographs." Jill said.

"Well she did say that was the main reason she was joining us." Nene reminded her. "But hey, it's her loss in the end. Oooo, I wonder if his smile's as dreamy close up!"

"I bet he's super nice too." Rekka chimed in.

The three U.A girls waited for another few minutes before it was finally their turn to get autographs. They each came up to Jimmi, with the musician looking as handsome and charming as he did on television. He was in his early twenties and had thick blonde hair. He wore an unzipped red jacket, denim jeans, and a pair of shades over his eyes.

"You're THE Jimmi Axediver!" Jill squealed. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's really you! We're like such big fans of yours!"

"I'm glad to hear that." Jimmi told them. He took notice of the uniform they each had on. "Oh hey, isn't that uniform for U.A High School? You all go there?"

"That's right. We're first years in the hero course." Rekka answered.

"Aspiring heroes huh? Well in my opinion, you all are the ones that really deserve praise." Jimmi said. "Risking your lives to protect the people and all. That's what's really important."

"Eeeeee, you have no idea how much that means to us!" Nene said with a grin so large it looked like her face might split.

"Anytime. Good luck, future heroes."

After getting their autographed pictures of Jimmi, the three girls walked away. They each had a skip to their step, unable to believe that they had actually gotten the chance to talk to their favorite musician. The man who had sung his way into the hearts of girls nationwide.

The three of them made their way to the rendezvous point, where Sakura was already waiting for them. The pink haired girl saw her classmates and waved over to them. "There you are! I was wondering what was taking you so long!"

"The line was crazy long. Sorry for making you wait." Nene said.

"I still can't believe you didn't want to get his autograph too." Jill told her. "I mean, don't you love his music?"

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not really into that kind of music. I prefer something more calm and relaxing to listen to. It's also helpful for studying."

"You really are a nature girl through and through, aren't you?" Jill said.

"Is this Jimmi person really that good?" Sakura asked.

"Of course!" Jill said. "You know how a lot of musicians these days use flashy Quirks to make their shows even better? Well Jimmi's Quirkless, but he still manages to keep up with those other performers!"

"There's a sense of natural beauty to his music as a result." Nene added. "He's got tons of fans."

A Quirkless musician being able to be so popular was certainly a rarity. Sakura had to give Jimmi at least that much credit. "Well we should probably get going. I still want to do a little bit of studying tonight."

Nene took a look at the time on her phone. "Yeah, it is getting a little late."

The four girls all began making their way home. They were going to head to the train station together at least before splitting up for the day.

As they walked out of the mall, Sakura took notice of something. "Don't there seem to be more heroes around than usual right now?"

"Really?" Jill asked. She looked around at the streets and saw that Sakura had a point. "Now that you mention it…"

"Maybe something happened." Nene wondered.

"Well in any case, it's not our problem. Better leave whatever it is to the pros." Jill suggested.

None of them had any arguments, so they walked down the street and began making their way to the train station.

* * *

Fujino slowly caught her breath as she walked out of an alleyway. She was lucky she had found an old worn hoodie in a dumpster to help conceal her face. After blowing a hole in the side of a police station, no doubt cops and heroes alike were searching for her now.

Her stomach growled as Fujino sighed. She hadn't eaten anything today besides a cup of instant ramen, so it wasn't surprising she felt hungry. But she didn't have any money on her.

'_What the hell am I doing? Where am I supposed to go now?'_ Fujino asked herself. She was on the run and had absolutely no one to turn to. The one person in the whole world she could probably trust right now was her mother, but she was all the way in Europe. Without even enough money to get a decent bite to eat, how was she supposed to make it to the other side of the world?

The more Fujino thought about it, the more she just wanted to go home. Go to the comfy bed in the warm loving house she grew up in and just sleep all her worries away. No one she knew was probably there anymore, but it was the only place she could think of. Her address was hazy after being gone for so long and everything she had gone through, so she tried to recall what she could. The only thing that came to mind was the city she lived in. Perhaps if she could at least get there, she could remember the way home based on the familiar scenery.

Stowing away on a flight to Europe was out of the question, but sneaking a ride on a train to her hometown was at least somewhat plausible. All she had to do now was get to a train station and then she'd figure out the rest as she went. Her entire escape attempt up to this point had been improvising on the spot, so why stop now?

Fujino walked up to the first bystander she could find. "Excuse me, which way to the train station?"

"The train station?" the man asked. He pointed over in the distance. "It's down that way and a little to the left."

"Thank you." Fujino said. She walked away, not wanting to let the conversation go on any longer than necessary. As she walked, she was reminded of how exhausted she was. The mental fatigue from everything that had happened so far was starting to wear on her.

After walking a few blocks down, Fujino came across a large park. She wasn't exactly in a rush, so she figured it would at least be a good place to relax and take a break for a few minutes. She needed a moment to clear her head anyway.

The park was incredibly large, with streams of water leading to a pond, as well as passageways that went under stone bridges. It seemed to cover almost half a mile in diameter she estimated based on the limited area she could see from the entrance.

Fujino walked through the park and took a look around. The peaceful sound of birds chirping and the cool breeze put her nerves at ease, allowing her to calm down some more. She remembered the few times she and her mother would go to the park together, though it was one much smaller than this.

As she walked, Fujino finally came across a fountain. She walked up to it and splashed the water from it on her face. It probably wasn't clean enough to drink, but at least it cleared her fatigue slightly. That didn't help how hungry she was feeling though.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Fujino jumped as she turned to the voice that spoke right by her. She looked at a group of four girls around her age standing by her, all wearing the same outfit. Realizing that they were just ordinary people, Fujino let out a sigh. "Geez, don't you know not to sneak up on people?" she said.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. My bad." one of the girls said. This one had silver hair with two curly ponytails. Another had short black hair, while another had long hair of the same color, but her bangs covered her eyes. The last one had curly pink hair. "It's just you didn't look so good. You were kinda stumbling around just now."

Fujino hadn't noticed, but she was probably walking a little wobbly given how tired and hungry she was. "It's nothing. Don't worry about-"

Fujino was interrupted as her stomach let out a huge growl that all five of them heard clearly. The silver haired girl let out a giggle. "Sounds like somebody's hungry." she said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of candy. "Here. Have some." When Fujino seemed to hesitate, the other girl showed her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. They're not poison or anything. See?" Reaching her hand into the bag, she took one of the pieces of candy and tossed it in her mouth.

Fujino still wasn't entirely sure she could trust them, but her hunger gave out in the end. She grabbed the bag and ate a piece of candy. Almost instantly, she recognized the flavor. "It's chocolate…"

"Well duh. They're called Coco Bites for a reason, silly." the silver haired girl told her. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Oh crap! You're not allergic or anything, are you?"

"N-No, it's not that." Fujino assured her. "I just… chocolate was my favorite flavor of ice cream when I was younger." Memories of eating the sweet treat with her mother came flowing back. How much she missed those times.

"I see." the silver haired girl said. "Oh right, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Jill. Jill Suzuki."

"Nene Fukasawa." the girl with short black hair said.

"Rekka Majo." said the one with bangs covering her eyes.

"I'm Sakura Avalon." the pink haired one greeted with a smile.

A silence overtook the area. Fujino could tell they were waiting for her to introduce herself. Finally, she gave in. Not giving her name would only arouse suspicion after all. "Fujino Hatsu."

"Nice to meet you, Fujino." Jill said with a friendly grin.

"If you don't mind me asking, why were you all wobbly just now?" Sakura asked. "Do you need to go to a hospital?"

"N-No! Nothing like that! I'm fine, I promise!" Fujino told them, a little too frantically honestly.

Thankfully, the girls didn't press her any further. "Well alright then. If you say so."

Fujino hid a small sigh of relief. "Well anyway, thanks for the candy. See you arou-"

Before Fujino could finish, an odd sensation filled the air around them. In an instant, Fujino's body felt like it had increased in weight by ten times what it normally did. She was forced onto one knee as she struggled to keep herself up.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked. She and all of the others seemed to be having the same issue that Fujino did.

"Is this someone's Quirk?" Nene wondered. "Who's doing this?"

"That would be me."

The girls all turned their heads to the origin of the voice they heard. There, they saw a boy with navy blue hair. He was wearing an unbuttoned black jacket with a white shirt underneath it, and black pants. But unlike the five girls, he seemed completely unaffected by whatever was going on with them.

A voice spoke into the earpiece the boy was wearing. "_King, I finished putting up the barrier. And Queen dealt with all nearby potential witnesses."_

"Understood. Keep watch and update me if anything happens." the boy said before turning his attention back to the girls. His eyes fixated on Fujino. "Now then, you're Fujino Hatsu, correct? I'll need you to come with me. The president is waiting after all."

"President?" Nene questioned. "What's this guy talking about?"

The boy released his Quirk and the girls all found their bodies return to their normal weight. They each stood up and faced the mysterious newcomer. But he wasn't alone for long. Soon, three others appeared at his side. One was a girl with long green hair and what appeared to be two large syringes attached to lines coming out of her back. One syringe had a green liquid inside it while the other had a liquid of a yellow color. The other two were both boys, one with blonde hair and a necklace around his neck that had a cross on it, and another with dark brown hair. Each of them were wearing the same outfit as the boy with navy blue hair.

The girl of the group showed a devilish smirk as she glanced at the blue haired boy. "We won't have to worry about interference, King. Everyone else in the park is fast asleep."

"Which means we get to take our time." the brown haired boy grinned.

"Please control yourself, Knight. We are not here to have fun fighting." the boy with the cross said. "We are here to do the righteous work of the president."

"What's this all about?" Jill asked. "What do you guys want with Fujino?"

"That's not really any of your business." King told them. "Nor does it matter."

"Yeah." the brown-haired boy named Knight said, taking off his jacket and throwing it into the air. In an instant, his left forearm transformed into a blade. "After all, you'll be dead within a few minutes."

Fujino widened her eyes. She recognized the names they were calling each other. "You've got to be kidding me… It's them…"

"You know them, Fujino?" Sakura asked.

"Not exactly." Fujino said. "But I've heard of them."

"It would seem our reputation precedes us." King said.

It had only been a few times, but Fujino had heard of them during her time at Paradise's hidden facility. Among the children trained to be living weapons, there was a specialized team that the organization used for its most important missions. She had only thought them to be rumors, but their presence here practically confirmed that they were true. Paradise's elite team of meta human warriors.

Checkmate.

**A/N: Not much to say for this chapter. Not a lot happened but I'm sure you can imagine the next one will be action packed. Until then readers.**


	21. Chapter 21

Tension filled the air as the five girls stared down the elite team sent to capture Fujino. It was clear whoever they are, they weren't going to take no for an answer. And on top of that, they seemed to plan to kill anyone else in the way, meaning the four girls from U.A currently standing with Fujino.

"Damnit, to think they'd send these guys." Fujino cursed. "This is bad."

"So, I'm still a little lost here." Jill said, tensing up at the danger they were in. "Why exactly are these guys after you?"

"It's a long story, and we really don't have time to get into it." Fujino said. "You should get going. I'll deal with them."

"Are you crazy? You can't take them by yourself." Nene said. "You're in no condition to fight."

"Just get going! If you stay, they're going to kill you!"

"Actually, we're going to kill them either way!" Knight said with a laugh as he sped towards them. "Try and make this at least somewhat interesting!"

The girls braced themselves as Knight came towards them. However, just as he made it halfway towards them, the space near him warped slightly. Knight widened his eyes, knowing what this meant.

"Knight, get back!" King shouted.

In that instant, an explosion occurred right where Knight had been standing. Jill and the others stood their ground as they endured the force of the shockwave.

"Was that your Quirk, Fujino?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah." Fujino told them. She hated using it due to her lack of control. But with the situation what it was, she didn't have much choice. She wasn't going back to Paradise, and she wasn't going to let innocent people get killed just because they had the misfortune of saying hello to her.

'_There's no choice. I have to fight.'_

Before Fujino could make another move however, Sakura grabbed her arm. "Come on, we need to move!"

"What?!"

"We can't inflict harm upon individuals with our Quirks without a license! That includes villains too!" Sakura told her. "We need to run and find a pro hero!"

"So we're just going to run like fish in a barrel?!" Fujino argued.

"There's no time to argue, let's go!" Nene yelled.

Deciding to trust the others, Fujino ran with them before the smoke from her explosion could clear. Meanwhile, Knight leaped back towards his teammates.

"What the hell happened to her not being able to control her Quirk?" he asked.

"You should have read the file on her more carefully, you idiot." King told him. "She can use her Quirk, but she has moments that it activates on its own."

"If you thought about something besides fighting for two seconds, you might have noticed that." the girl of the group added.

"Oh shut it, Queen." Knight said. He glanced at King. "Hey, Rook has us all sealed in here, right? Meaning they won't be able to escape?"

"He should." King confirmed. "Now let's get moving. Prioritize securing the target. If those girls with her get in the way, kill them."

The four of them quickly began to chase after the five escaping girls. They couldn't see them anymore, but given where they had been, the only place they could have gone was under the nearby bridge and towards the exit of the park. They hurried under the bridge, but as soon as they did they found their path blocked by a thick layer of tree branches and bushes that moved on their own. They turned to go back out the other side from under the bridge, but watched as it became blocked off in the same manner.

Past the bridge, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief that her trap had worked. "Phew. That should hold them for a little."

"Nice job, Sakura." Nene said. "Now let's hurry and run."

"Right." Sakura said as she followed her friends.

"Why the hell are you doing all this?" Fujino asked as they ran. "You just met me. You should ditch me and try to get away."

"That's not how we do things." Jill said. "See, we're training to become heroes."

"If someone's in trouble, it's only natural to try and help them." Nene explained.

"Yeah! And we're friends, aren't we?" Rekka added. "Friends should always help each other."

"Friends huh?" Fujino asked. She let out a small chuckle. "Man, you girls are such idiots. But thanks for the help."

Jill let out a giggle. "Once we get out of the park, we just need to- Oof!"

Jill was cut short as she slammed right into something. As she stumbled back slightly, the girls noticed a barely visible transparent wall of light in front of them.

"What the heck?" Nene said. She tapped against it, highlighting the barrier. It wasn't too large. Only about a meter wide and maybe twice as tall. But when she moved to the end of the wall's perimeter, she found yet another wall of light there as well.

"This must be one of their Quirks." Jill said. "But I bet they didn't think we'd go _over_ their wall." Using her Quirk, Jill sprung upwards to try and jump over the row of walls. However, she only ended up slamming into another wall midair and fell back to the ground with a painful thud. "Never mind. They thought of that."

"How far do these walls run?" Rekka wondered.

"They couldn't have planned for us to escape this way ahead of time." Sakura said, glancing back to make sure the villains were still stuck in her trap. "And they can't see us clearly right now. Then does that mean there's another ally of theirs somewhere?"

True to Sakura's guess, another male teen sat on the roof of a building overlooking the park. He was rather bulky for his age and had dark tanned skin with spiky black hair. He sat with his legs crossed, staying so still that birds rested on his broad shoulders. He opened one of his closed eyes. "Seems they got to the barrier."

**[Rook. Quirk: Energy Wall. He can create force fields of pure energy anywhere in his field of vision. While they are not very large, there is no limit to the number of walls he can create at a time. However, if he moves at all, every wall he currently has up will vanish.]**

"If I had to guess, these walls cover an entire section of the park." Fujino said. "They trapped us in here."

"That certainly raises a problem." Jill said.

The sound of branches falling caused the girls to turn back to the bridge. They watched as Knight sliced through the foliage with his bladed arm. But things only got worse when the blade he had for an arm vanished, only to be replaced with two gun barrels, resembling a musket gun.

"That was a pretty neat trick! But it's nothing my Quirk can't deal with!" Knight grinned.

**[Knight. Quirk: Armory Arm. He can transform both his arms into various weapons (swords, lances, guns, etc).]**

"Crap, move!" Nene shouted.

The five girls each lunged to the side as they dodged the blast that came from Knight. But now they were split up, with Jill, Sakura, and Fujino on one side, and Nene and Rekka on the other.

"Split up for now! We'll meet up later!" Nene suggested. The others all nodded, running off before Knight could have another chance to shoot at them.

Knight frowned as he watched the girls run. "Aw man, that's no fun. Why can't they stand their ground and fight?"

"I actually prefer a hunt like this." King said, stepping out from the cut branches with Queen and Bishop. "But we still have our mission to focus on. Knight, go right. Queen, you take the left. Message me once you have a visual on them. Bishop, you're with me. We'll cut off their escape route with my Quirk."

Knight groaned. "Fine, just give me a bit of time to have some fun. You're Quirk affects all of us you know."

"In that case, you'd better hurry." King told him.

* * *

Jill, Sakura, and Fujino ran together, using an area of the park that had a fair amount of bushes and trees to hide. They were not allowed to fight, and yet there was no way to get help. They were completely trapped.

"So why are these guys after you?" Jill asked. "Just who the heck are you, Fujino?"

Fujino was silent for a moment. She really didn't want to talk about it, but these people were risking their lives to help her. They at least deserved to know why. "Long story short, I was being kept somewhere and being trained as a human weapon. These guys are trying to take me back before the outside world knows about its existence."

Jill and Sakura widened their eyes at this. "A human weapon?"

"Yeah." Fujino nodded. "I wasn't the only one being trained either. And based on the rumors I've heard, these guys are the best of the best out of those trained by the organization that was holding me captive. They go by the name Checkmate."

"Do you know what their Quirks are?"

"Unfortunately, I know about as much as you in regards to that. I never paid much attention to the rumors involving these guys, but none of them ever mentioned specifics about their Quirks."

"Right now, we should try to hide and stall for time." Sakura suggested. "Someone's bound to notice the barriers eventually. After that, they'll send the police and heroes to help."

"Now that I think about it…" Jill said as she looked around. "Even for late afternoon, there's nobody else here. You'd think we would have run into someone by now."

Sakura realized Jill was right. Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of something. A pair of legs sticking out from a nearby bush. She ran over to it and gasped. Two people were unconscious behind the bush.

Jill and Fujino came up to Sakura and were equally surprised by what they saw. "Are they…"

"It seems they're alive. I think they were just put into a sleep state somehow. Probably one of the Quirks from that group." Sakura said.

"At this time of day, there wouldn't be many people in the park." Jill noted. "They were probably able to get them out of the way without anyone noticing so they could focus on us without interference."

"Very perceptive."

Jill, Sakura, and Fujino all gasped as they turned around and saw Queen walking up to them. She smirked as the two large syringes moved about freely while connected to the lines on her back. No doubt they were a part of her body and were related to her Quirk.

"Just one of you? You guys are pretty cocky." Fujino said.

"Oh I'm more than enough for you. Soon you'll end up just like the bystanders I put to sleep." Queen said.

**[Queen. Quirk: Injection. She has two syringes attached to her body that she can control at will. One of the syringes contains a drug that will inhibit a person's senses, or knock them out entirely if enough of the drug is injected. The other syringe contains the antidote. Regardless of being administered the antidote or not though, anyone infected by the first drug will recover within one hour.]**

Queen put a hand to her ear to contact her teammates. "I've located three of them King, including the main target."

"_Good work. Keep them occupied until Knight confirms the location of the others, and whatever happens do not let them out of your sights."_

"Of course, King." Queen responded. She brought her attention back to her three opponents. "Now then, who wants to be first?"

Jill and Sakura tensed up. They weren't allowed to fight since they didn't have permission from a pro hero or teacher. The only thing they could do was try to ward off their opponent's attacks and stall for time.

Queen however, had no such issues with inflicting harm on her targets. She moved in, getting her syringes ready to pierce the girls. Even if the liquid in one of her syringes was a cure rather than an inhibitor, it didn't stop the fact that the syringe itself could inflict small puncture wounds.

Sakura quickly manipulated the trees around them and sent large branches flying in Queen's direction in an attempt to trap her. However, Queen skillfully avoided the attack and continued making her way towards Sakura.

"So it was your Quirk that trapped us under the bridge." Queen realized. "In that case, I'll take care of you first!"

Knowing offense wasn't working, Sakura quickly threw up a wall of roots from the ground to cut Queen off. She turned to Jill. "I'll keep her distracted. You hurry up and try to get a warning out."

"How?!" Jill asked.

"You need to create a signal." Sakura explained. "Jump as high as you can and try to shout out a call. It doesn't matter if a hero doesn't hear it, as long as somebody does and realizes we need help."

Jill nodded her head. "Leave it to me."

"Oh no you don't!" Queen said, coming from the side of the wall Sakura created. It was too late though as Jill's legs were already compressed to jump. She rocketed herself into the air to get a warning out. Queen knew that while Rook could create multiple barriers and stack them, doing it on this large of a scale made it far from perfect. There were bound to be cracks in it here and there, which would allow sound to escape from it. Trying to stop her, Queen moved the syringe she had with the drug at Jill. But as it came for the girl, a series of plants rose up. Knowing she'd be stuck if her syringe got caught in it, Queen quickly pulled it back.

'_Damnit, I couldn't stop them!'_ Queen thought to herself. She quickly put her hand to her ear. "King, they're about to get a message out! Use your Quirk! Quickly!"

Jill rose high up into the air. High enough where she could see the entire park. People were still walking around, going about their day. It was now or never.

"HELP!" Jill shouted at the top of her lungs. "There's villains at the pa- Woah!"

In an instant, Jill felt a force push down on her. She flew back down to the ground at a speed far greater than what she was used to when falling from such a height.

Sakura and Fujino were both feeling a similar pressure on their bodies. It was the same as before when Checkmate had first approached them. Sakura gasped as she watched Jill fall. "Hang on!" Her body wasn't able to move much, but she could still move plants with her Quirk. She quickly created a cushion of leaves and flowers for Jill to fall onto. It succeeded in cushioning her fall for the most part, but it hadn't absorbed the force entirely.

Jill groaned, but she was thankful the damage to her had been minimal due to the quick work of her friend. "Thanks Sakura."

With Jill saved, Sakura now focussed her attention on trying to figure out what was going on. Between how heavy her body felt and the extra effort it took in moving the plants just now, she could only assume that this was the work of a Quirk that increased the effect of gravity around a certain area. Queen seemed to be struggling to stand just like them, so Sakura could only guess that the only person that wasn't affected was the Quirk user, which was likely the one they referred to as King.

Sakura's guess was spot on. From the fountain in the park, King stood with Bishop. However, while King stood like normal, Bishop had his body pressed down on the ground by the intense gravity.

"Good. Now they should be immobilized." King said.

**[King. Quirk: Gravity Pressure. He can increase the effect of gravity around him, up to a certain area. The gravity affects everything and everyone except for him.]**

"Hurry King…" Bishop said. "The effect of my Quirk won't last for long."

**[Bishop. Quirk: Prayer. By closing his eyes, clasping his hands, and saying the name of someone, he can increase the power of that person, both physically and Quirk-based. The effect only lasts for five minutes though, and he can only use it once a day.]**

With Bishop's Quirk temporarily boosting his own, King's gravity had a far wider reach now. It was likely covering most of the park. He just needed to be careful to to let it go too far past the barrier Rook had set up.

"Time is of the essence. I suppose I'll deal with our top priority of securing Fujino Hatsu first." King said. He quickly took off running towards Queen's location.

* * *

"Ngh… Damnit King, give a guy some warning first." Knight grumbled to himself as he found himself barely able to move under the effect of King's gravity. It was a good thing for him that Nene and Rekka were also in a similar state or else he would have gotten chewed out for sure. He had been hoping to have a little fun with his prey before reporting in to King that he had found them, but it seemed lady luck didn't feel the same way.

Nene struggled to stand up, but lacked the strength to do so. "Drat… I can barely move…"

"At least that guy seems to be in the same boat." Rekka said.

Knight looked at the two girls. He wouldn't be able to get to them at this rate, That left long range as his only option. He transformed his arm into the musket gun form from earlier. He sat and used his other arm to lift the gun arm up with all his strength.

Nene widened her eyes when she saw what Knight was doing. '_Crap…'_

Knight grinned as he took aim at Nene. "Die."

The gun fired and the bullet flew straight towards Nene. Acting quickly, the student made a clone in front of herself, which took the hit before vanishing into mist.

"Tch. Damnit, the force isn't as good with all this gravity affecting it." Knight cursed. "Oh well. You can't keep up that trick forever."

Nene threw up several clones as Knight fired one bullet after another. He couldn't do rapid fire, but it was still fast enough to fire once every few seconds. If things kept up as they were, Nene's stamina would be used up eventually.

"You're just delaying the inevitable, you know?" Knight said with a smirk as he continued to blast through Nene's clones.

The stalemate continued on. Nene's defense against Knight's offense. But one would have to give out eventually. Once Nene's wall of clones fell, Nene and Rekka would be sitting ducks.

"What do we do?" Rekka asked.

Nene didn't have an answer to that. They weren't allowed to cause injury with their Quirks the way they were right now. Even if they were up against villains. All they could do was wait for help.

Knight fired yet another blast from his arm. Finally, he could see Nene's clone creation starting to slow down. "Heh. You're finished."

* * *

Sakura, Fujino, and Jill were all pinned down by the enhanced gravity. They couldn't move. Queen was in a similar state, but she had a smirk on her face as if she had won.

"It's over." Queen told them. "Once King gets here, you're finished."

'_Damnit. We won't last long at this rate.'_ Sakura thought. '_Come on! Think!'_

Sakura racked her brain for a plan. Some way, any way for them to continue to hold them off. Even if they tried fighting at this point, she doubted they would win in the state they were in. Suddenly, an idea came to her. It was pretty desperate and would completely back them into a corner. But given their situation, they were pretty much already backed into a corner.

Acting quickly, Sakura manipulated the plants around her. She brought Jill and Fujino in close to her and used the trees in the area to wrap around all three of them. They swirled and curved around until Sakura had a full barrier of tree trunks and branches covering the entire area around them in the form of a makeshift dome.

Queen grit her teeth in frustration. "They just don't know when to give up, do they?"

"It would seem so." a new voice spoke. Queen's expression brightened as King finally appeared. He looked at the wooden dome in front of them. "I assume our targets are in there?"

"Yes." Queen confirmed. "They're trapped like rats."

King estimated he still had another three to four minutes left before the boost he had from Bishop wore off. At the very least, he needed to secure Fujino within that time.

"Little pigs, little pigs, let me in." King said with a grin as he swung his fist at the dome, creating a small dent. Bishop's Quirk boosted more than just his Quirk's power, it also increased his physical prowess as well. So the wooden barrier that normally would be impossible for him to punch his way through was now vulnerable. He swung punch after punch at it, weakening it little by little as he chipped away at it.

Inside the dome, the three girls could hear the wood breaking apart gradually. They had another couple minutes at max before King broke through.

"Screw it, we can't sit back and do nothing." Fujino said. "I'm gonna blow him away with my Quirk."

"You can't!" Jill told her as she grabbed her arm. "We have to wait for the pros, whether we like it or not!"

"Besides, in this enclosed space, we'd get hit with the recoil of an explosion." Sakura reminded her.

While she didn't care as much about not inflicting harm to others rule that Jill said, the point Sakura brought up was a fair one. She had to see the area she was distorting to create the explosion. In this situation, she'd only be able to cause one inside the dome, which would hit them with the blast too.

"You really are stubborn, aren't you Fujino?" King asked as he continued to punch his way through the dome. "Give up now and I may not let the president know how much you resisted."

"I told you already. I'm never going back to Paradise." Fujino told him. "I don't get it. Why do you help them? Weren't you ripped from your families as well and trained to be weapons by those bastards?"

"Heh, who cares?" King said. "Paradise gave me a life where I can go all out as much as I want, without being restricted by society. This life is all I could want."

"But you're nothing but a tool to them!"

"I'm strong because of what I went through there." King told her. "That's how it is for all of us. And now we get to let loose!"

Finally, King threw a punch that broke through the dome. It was a small hole, just large enough for his arm to get through. But soon the rest of it would fall as well.

"And that's checkmate." King smirked.

Fujino felt her body begin to tremble. She didn't want to go back there. To the life of constant pain and torture, all to be someone's tool. "No… someone save me…" As she trembled, a sensation went through her head. Fujino widened her eyes when she knew what it was. "No… Not now… Damnit..."

Sakura saw Fujino holding her head in pain. "Fujino? What's wrong?"

Before King could continue, he received a message from the communicator in his ear. "_King, there's trouble. Heroes entering the park. I think they know you're there."_

"What?!" King exclaimed. He brought his hand to his ear. "How many? Do you recognize them?"

"Two heroes, but more are probably on the way. I don't know if the barrier will hold or not."

'_Damnit, it would have to be now of all times.'_ King thought. '_What should I do? Do I risk it and grab Fujino quickly? Or do I pull out before the barrier can get broken and we get surrounded?'_

"Something sounds wrong." Sakura whispered. "I think we might have just gotten reinforcements."

"I sure hope so." Jill said.

King contemplated his options. This could end up getting very dicey. But prioritizing his own safety above completing a mission was a policy of his. He spoke into his earpiece. "We're pulling out. The mission's a failure."

"_King I've spotted another hero. It's Gang Orca."_

The Number 10 Hero was definitely going to cause a problem if they stayed much longer. He released his Quirk and the gravity returned to normal. He spoke into his earpiece, addressing his entire team this time. "We're pulling out. The mission's a failure. Fall back." He turned his attention to Queen. "Let's go."

"Right." Queen nodded. She stood up and the two of them quickly took off running.

"_King, they broke through the barrier. They're coming your way."_

Not wanting to waste any more time, King and Queen quickly took off running and fled. A few tense moments of silence passed before the three girls inside the wood dome heard a voice. "Hey! Is anyone here!"

Sakura widened her eyes when she recognized the voice. She used her Quirk and removed the plants surrounding them. "Mr. Aizawa!"

Aizawa ran up to the girls, along with Gang Orca. "You two? You're Avalon and Suzuki from Class 1-C, correct?"

"Yes, sir." Sakura nodded.

"Tell us. What happened he-" Aizawa stopped short when he noticed Fujino with them too. "Fujino Hatsu?"

"Wait, you know Fujino too, Mr. Aizawa?" Jill asked.

Aizawa noticed the girl holding her head in pain. He quickly realized her Quirk was about to be unleashed once again. Not wasting another moment, he instantly used his Quirk on her, erasing it temporarily.

Fujino soon noticed the pain in her head vanish. "My Quirk? It… stopped?"

"I've erased it for now. But the effect won't last long." Aizawa told her. "Now what exactly happened here?"

"We were attacked by villains." Sakura explained. "They trapped us in the park and were after Fujino for some reason."

"So the barrier was their doing then." Aizawa realized. He turned his head to the Number 10 hero. "Orca. Try and find them. They couldn't have gotten far."

"Nene and Rekka are out there too! We got split up!" Jill added.

"I'll look for them while I try to find the villains." Gang Orca said. "Eraser, you stay here. We'll need you to keep that girl under control."

"Right." Aizawa nodded. As Gang Orca ran off in search of the villains and the other two students of Class C, Aizawa walked up to Fujino. "Now then, Fujino Hatsu, I'll need you to come with me. We've had heroes scouring the city for you."

"Why? You're just going to send me to another facility, right?" Fujino said, looking away. "I overheard the people with the police. You're going to lock me up somewhere because my Quirk's too dangerous, aren't you?"

Aizawa let out a sigh. "It appears there's been a misunderstanding. But it's best you hear the rest from the principal."

"Principal Nezu?" Sakura questioned. "I don't understand. What's going to happen to Fujino?"

"That doesn't concern you right now." Aizawa told the two U.A students. "Now hurry on home. It's getting late."

Sakura and Jill looked at each other, more confused than ever as to what was going on. But they decided to listen to the teacher of Class A.

"Hey… Fujino." Sakura said. "I don't really get what's going on, but you can trust Mr. Aizawa and Principal Nezu. They're good people."

Fujino nodded her head understandingly. If there was anyone in the world she trusted right now, it was the friends she had made that risked their lives to protect her. "Alright. Thanks for your help."

Sakura and Jill both walked towards the park entrance as they made their way home. Now it was just Fujino and Aizawa.

"I doubt I need to tell you this, but you've caused a lot of trouble." Aizawa told her. "We've been looking for you for hours. And on top of all that, you blew a hole in the side of the police station."

Fujino lowered her head. "I'm sorry. I was just… so scared. I was afraid I was going to be sent and locked away somewhere again."

Aizawa sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you should also know the police are going to start investigating Paradise soon. If there really is something going on, they'll uncover it. But for now, we have a few more questions for you. Follow me."

Fujino nodded obediently. She got to her feet and followed Aizawa, the two of them walking away together.

* * *

There was a lot of chaos to clean up from the park. Several people had been knocked out by Queen's Quirk and were dazed and confused when they awoke. Some of the terrain had been ripped up and deformed, which was assumed to be the work of Sakura's Quirk. Thankfully however, there were zero casualties. Nene and Rekka were located and found to be relatively unharmed with no serious injuries. Things had started to look dicey against Knight, but right after the gravity lifted he bolted. In the end, not a single member of Checkmate was able to be found. They had gotten away.

As for Fujino, she was brought back to the police station. Rather than a cell however, she was put in an interrogation room. The police questioned Fujino with Aizawa present to keep her Quirk erased the entire time to prevent it from causing any more damage. Fujino herself had no complaints with that. She didn't even trust herself with her Quirk, especially when it came to talking about her traumatic experiences at Paradise's facility.

After answering a series of questions regarding what she knew about Paradise, the police left her alone. Nezu then came into the room to speak with her.

"I first want to apologize for the terrible time you must have gone through up until now." Nezu told her. "I went through something similar in the past, so I understand how traumatic it can be."

"So what now?" Fujino asked. "I caused a lot of damage. I suppose I'm going to be arrested now?"

"That is one option." Nezu said. "However, I have a proposal I want to suggest."

Fujino looked up at the principal. "A proposal?"

"You may not know this, but I work as the principal for U.A High School. There, we have several heroes that work as teachers, like Mr. Aizawa here." Nezu explained, gesturing to the tired-looking adult. "What would you say to coming to attend our prestigious institution?"

Fujino blinked her eyes in surprise. "You… want me to be a student at your school? But why?"

"The goal here is multi-layered." Nezu told her. "Firstly, if you accept, you will be put under almost constant supervision. This is to both keep an eye on you and keep you safe from any more attempts from Paradise to abduct you. Secondly, I am aware you are unable to fully control your Quirk. We have plenty of staff that are experts in helping students develop their Quirks. Of course, this includes learning to control them as well. We also have Mr. Aizawa with us to help keep your Quirk from going out of control during this training."

"Your freedom will be rather limited." Aizawa added. "But if you accept this, U.A will deal with the repairs to the station."

"You'd really let me off the hook like that?" Fujino asked.

"Our school is constantly repairing our damaged training fields. We can well afford it." Nezu assured her. "Another reason you'd be getting pardoned is due to the fact that you helped uncover a major criminal activity that society was not aware of until this point. The police have already begun to investigate Paradise in hopes of uncovering all of their crimes. After some discussion with the police, this was the compromise agreed upon."

"So that means you believe me about Paradise?"

"I do." Nezu nodded. "So what do you say?"

Fujino thought about the proposal. It honestly wasn't a bad deal. Actually, it was a really good one. She could live a somewhat normal life again. And on top of that, the damage she had caused would be forgiven. At the very least, it was more than she had been expecting to receive.

However, there was still one thing she felt she needed.

"I'd like that a lot." Fujino said. "But if it's alright, I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?" Nezu asked.

"Those girls from the park. They go to U.A as well, correct?" Fujino said. "If it's alright, I'd like to be in the same class as them."

Nezu showed a warm smile. "I see no problems with that. Very well."

"Thank you very much." Fujino said with a grateful bow.

Nezu hopped out of his chair. "I still have a few things to discuss with the police. Afterwards, Mr. Aizawa and I will escort you to your temporary home."

With that, Nezu and Aizawa left the room and walked together. Aizawa looked down at the principal. "Are you sure this is the best idea?"

"She's been through a terrible experience for someone her age. And before today, she didn't have any real contact with the outside world for the past three years." Nezu reminded him. "I believe this will be the best way for her to gradually readjust and learn to live a normal life."

"What about her Quirk? She can learn to control it while at U.A, but what if she loses control in the middle of class?"

"That's what we have you for. You'll be two doors down after all." Nezu said with a smile. "But I don't believe it will be an issue. From what I can tell, each incident where she lost control of her Quirk was due to a stressful situation being suddenly thrust upon her. She'll be in a relaxing classroom environment, so I don't believe there will be any need to intervene. That is also why I agreed to let her join the class of Miss Avalon, Suzuki, Fukasawa, and Majo. Having friendly faces that she can trust will help her feel comfortable."

"I suppose so. But Yamagori isn't going to be happy about this."

"I'm sure she'll manage." Nezu said.

* * *

The morning bell for U.A rang, signaling for all of the students to take their seat. Almost immediately after the bell fell silent, Yamagori walked into the classroom. She walked to her desk and addressed her class.

"Before we begin, there's an announcement I have. Starting today, we'll have another student joining this class."

Whispers of gossip quickly began to spread around the class. They were getting a new student? Who? And why? Everyone quickly fell silent however as Yamagori gave the class a warning glare of her eyes.

"Now then, this will be the new member of Class C." Yamaori said as she turned her head to the door. "You can come in now."

The door opened and a lone girl walked into the room. She had long maroon colored hair, and was wearing the same U.A school uniform the rest of the class was. She was a complete stranger to most of the class, but to four of them in particular, they recognized her right away.

"Fujino?!" Jill gasped as she stood up from her seat. Sakura, Nene, and Rekka also stood up from their seats in shock, catching the attention of the rest of the class.

"Ahem!" Yamagori said with a cough. The four girls sat back down, not wanting to incur the wrath of their teacher. "Now then, you may introduce yourself."

"I'm Fujino Hatsu." Fujino said with a bow of her head. "I… hope we can get along?"

Yamagori let out a sigh. She had been told the girl's social skills might be a little lacking, but this was even worse than she was expecting. "Hatsu here will not be officially joining our class yet. She'll be an official student at the start of the second semester. However, she'll be observing classes for now and will still be learning like the rest of you." she explained. "Now then Hatsu, take your seat and we can begin class."

Fujino obediently nodded and walked over to the empty desk provided for her. As she passed by Sakura and the others, they each gave her a friendly wave. Seeing them helped ease her nerves a little. Because for the first time in a long time she had something she thought she'd never have again. Friends.

'_I think I'm going to like it here.'_

**A/N: And with that, a brand new student has joined Class 1-C's roster. Next up is the Final Exam arc, so look forward to some interesting team ups.**


	22. Chapter 22

It was a rather nice day out in Japan. Blue skies. Birds chirping. A very peaceful setting. That was just what Fujino liked as she listened to the class lecture.

A week had passed since Fujino had started attending U.A. She was still not officially a student yet, and wouldn't be until the next semester. But that didn't mean she couldn't learn a thing or two by listening and taking notes. Since she had nowhere to stay, the school had set her up in the same apartment building that they had put Yamagori in. Cheap and a little run down, but still miles better than her room at Paradise's facility so Fujino had no complaints. Yamagori brought her to and from school every day. Fujino had also been provided with a simple cell phone for the sake of convenience.

The midday bell rang throughout U.A's halls, signalling that it was time for lunch. Yamagori took the lesson plans on her desk and organized them neatly. "Alright, that's it for class." she said. "And I doubt I need to remind you all, but there's only a week left before final exams. Make sure you're all studying. I don't want to hear any excuses afterwards."

Final exams. It was something on everyone's minds. It would be their biggest examination since midterms a couple months ago. But these would undoubtedly be much harder.

"There won't just be a written examination this time. There's also a practical portion as well." the teacher added. "So you better train your minds _and_ bodies." Yamagori looked to the back of the room. "And Hatsu, meet me in the faculty office once afternoon classes are done."

"Yes Ms. Yamagori." Fujino said.

With that, Yamagori walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. And that left all of Class C to voice their minds about the upcoming finals.

"I'm so screwed!" Shiro **(Midterm:20th/20)** exclaimed. "I haven't studied at all…"

"Eh, don't sweat it." Jill **(Midterm:19th/20)** said. "We just gotta do some last minute cramming."

"We have pretty much had one event after another." Daiki **(Midterm:9th/20)** admitted. "Between the sports festival and internships, we haven't gotten a whole lot of free time."

Sarah **(Midterm:3rd/20)** shrugged her shoulders. "It's not like it's that hard to fail. All you have to do is pay attention in class."

"Midterms didn't really cover a whole lot." Hikari **(Midterm:12th/20)** admitted. "So finals are probably going to be a lot harder."

"Easy for you to say!" Shiro yelled. "I suck at this kind of stuff!"

"Heh, well it must be hard to get a top score for someone like you." Hyde **(Midterm:8th/20)** smirked. "After all, you've got someone as amazing as me to compete with."

"I still can't believe you scored as well as you did on midterms, even if they were easy." Nene **(Midterm:7th/20)** told him.

"Heh, the star of the show usually gets underestimated." Hyde retorted.

"Even if we have been busy, you should have done at least some studying by now." Marcus **(Midterm:4th/20)** said.

"Ohhh, I'm so nervous!" Vivi **(Midterm:13th/20)** said frantically. "Written exams are one thing, but there's going to be a practical portion too this time! I'm going to mess up, I just know it!"

"Geez, get a grip." Fujino said, resting her head on her hand. "You guys are supposed to be training to become heroes and a simple test has you this panicked?"

"Oui. Mademoiselle Fujino's words sound like they come from the heavens themselves." Merci **(Midterm:18th/20)** stated. "I for one am not worried in the slightest."

Dan **(Midterm:5th/20)** and Alicia **(Midterm:6th/20)** narrowed their eyes at Merci. "Uhh… I think you might want to worry a little, Merci." Alicia said.

"What exactly are you implying?" Merci retorted.

"I have an idea." Sakura **(Midterm:2nd/20)** suggested. "If you all want, we can do a big study session together."

"Seriously?! That'd be great!" Jill said with a wide grin.

"You really mean it?!" Shiro asked.

"Of course. As class rep, it's my job to help my fellow classmates." Sakura told them.

"Woohoo!" the bottom two midterm finishers cheered.

"I wouldn't mind joining, if that's alright." Fiona **(Midterm:17th/20)** said.

"Me as well." Melody **(Midterm:16th/20)** chimed in.

"With the power of our friendship, we'll pass for sure." Rekka **(Midterm:14th/20)** grinned.

Lilina **(Midterm:10th/20)** walked up to the group as well. "I'd like to join too if you don't mind." Lilina added. "I can help with math no problem, but I've had a few issues with some of the other subjects."

Shinobu **(Midterm:1st/20)** got up from his seat and walked to the door. "Do me a favor and don't come asking me for help. I don't have time to waste making up for your foolishness."

Everyone watched as Shinobu walked out of the classroom and closed the door behind him. Satoshi **(Midterm:11th/20)** let out a sigh. "Well he's as friendly as ever."

"In the end though, he does have a point." Kenji **(Midterm:15th/20)** admitted. "While there is no shame in helping others, we must focus on ourselves first and foremost."

Jill waved over to Fujino. "Hey Fujino, you should totally join our study session!"

"Huh? Why?" Fujino asked. "I don't have to take finals like you guys."

"Cause it'll be fun!"

"You did get thrown right into class in the middle of the semester. It wouldn't be surprising if you were having trouble with some of the material." Sakura mentioned. "I'd be happy to help if you want."

Fujino couldn't fully deny Sakura's point. She had gotten a semi-basic education from time to time at Paradise's facility, but it was far below the standards of what most kids her age would learn, so her academic skills were a little sub par compared to the rest of the class. She had been getting help in her free time from Sakura and some of the others to try and catch up with where they were at in lessons. But she still wasn't entirely sure about joining so many people for a study session for an exam she wasn't even taking.

"It's fine. You guys can have your little gabfest." Fujino told them.

"I'll bring some of those chocolate candies you like~" Jill told her in an alluring tone.

Just like that, Fujino found her stomach turning against her, urging her to accept the invitation. She groaned and gave in. "Fine. If you really want me there, I guess I could go."

Jill let out a giggle. She knew just what to use to incentivize Fujino.

* * *

Lunch Rush's cooking was as good as always. Fujino had come to especially enjoy lunchtime each day due to how amazing the meals she got to eat at U.A were. The main topic of conversation at the table today was the upcoming finals.

"The written exam shouldn't be too bad." Dan said as he ate. "It's just stuff we've learned in class. But I have no idea what to expect with the practical."

"Yeah. It could end up being any number of things." Marcus said. "It's a little concerning having to be prepared for so many different scenarios."

"All Ms. Yamagori would tell us is that it's a comprehensive test based on everything from the first semester." Alicia noted. "Something that vague is kinda hard to work with."

"We've done combat and rescue training mostly." Sarah said. "We'll have to stay in good physical condition too if we want to-"

"Oh, my, my, look who it is."

The heads of Class C turned as Monoma of Class B walked up to them with his deranged grin. "If it isn't the detestable Class C who thought they were too good to work with us at the sports festival."

'_Oh great. This clown.'_ Sarah thought to herself.

"Seeing you all squirm and worry about the final exam brings such joy to my eyes." Monoma said. "But we of Class B already know what the practical exam will be! That's right! We've pulled ahead of you all!"

Fujino narrowed her eyes at Monoma. "Who the heck is this guy?"

"Hm? Ah, you must be the new student I heard about." Monoma said. "It's a shame you got stuck with the pathetic losers of Class C. Because in the end, it will be Class B that shows you all how worthless you all are!"

Fujino was quickly growing to dislike Monoma, not that anyone could blame her. "Can I blow this idiot up?"

"No! No blowing people up!" Nene said as she quickly covered Fujino's mouth. "Ahaha… she's kidding of course."

"That's enough, Monoma." Kendo said, delivering a swift chop to the back of her classmate's neck. "I just had to step in with you and Class A. Give me a break." She grabbed Monoma by the back collar of his shirt before he could collapse. "Sorry about him. His head's not really screwed on right if you know what I mean."

"Just keep him in check." Fujino said.

"I'll do my best." Kendo said. "Anyway, I hope you're settling in well. Your name's… Fujino, right?"

Fujino nodded her head. "Yes, that's correct."

"Good. Well I hope we can get along." she said. "Don't worry. Not everyone in Class B is like this sad sack."

Fujino looked closely at Kendo. She seemed honest enough. Despite her psycho of a classmate, perhaps Kendo was alright. "Sure, whatever."

"Oh, and about the practical exam." Kendo added. "An upperclassman friend of mine let me know what it would be. Looks like it'll be combat against robots, like it was for the entrance exam."

"Seriously?" Alicia said. "Thanks, that info helps a lot."

"Consider it an apology for this one." Kendo said, lifting Monoma up as she began to drag him away. "Good luck."

After Kendo left with Monoma, the students of Class C quickly spread the word to each other. The knowledge that the practical exam would be fighting robots was a huge relief to many of them. Even for those that weren't completely confident in their combat strength against robots, simply knowing what to prepare for was a huge relief.

* * *

Once afternoon classes were over, everyone headed home for the day. Fujino however stayed at the school. She had a special training session with Yamagori and Aizawa scheduled for after school. They brought her to the training field where she had been doing her special lessons since coming to U.A.

Despite having several lessons, Fujino's control was still subpar at best. And she still found her Quirk activating on its own in the heat of battle due to the stress it put on her mind. Her accuracy had gotten a bit better, but outside of that she had improved very little.

"Alright Hatsu, today's lesson is going to be a bit different from usual." Yamagori told her.

"What do you mean?" Fujino asked.

"I'll be frank. Your accuracy and overall concentration have improved, but your control is still crap." she said. "Without full control over your Quirk, you'll only end up a liability in a fight rather than an asset. Heck, you could end up being a danger just walking around in general."

"I know. I'm trying." Fujino said.

"Well your "trying" hasn't accomplished a whole hell of a lot." Yamagori said. "I was hoping not to have to do this, but it seems it's going to become necessary for the time being. We're going to create an inhibitor for you."

"An inhibitor?"

"Basically, we're going to add a mental condition for activating your Quirk." Yamagori explained. "Think of it like a switch inside your mind. When you press the button on that switch, you create an explosion. And the way you press it will be saying a special keyword verbally."

"What's the keyword?"

"It can be whatever you want it to be. What's important though is that you need to subconsciously believe that your Quirk will not activate unless you say that keyword."

"And you think this will work?"

"It's a technique I used when I was still learning to fully control my Quirk." Yamagori explained. "Sometimes I'd look at a person and simply thinking about the fact that I could paralyze them by making eye contact would trigger my Quirk. Sound familiar?"

"So then… as long as I have this mental rule on myself, I can avoid my Quirk going off on its own." Fujino realized.

"Exactly. Of course, it's not practical to stay this way forever. Adding a condition for Quirk activation means you can't use it as freely as you normally would be able to. The goal here will be for you to have this mental rule placed on yourself while you're learning to fully control your Quirk. Then after your control improves enough where you feel it's safe, we'll work to remove it."

"I think I understand." Fujino said. "But I've used my Quirk my whole life without this mental rule. Suddenly being asked to subconsciously believe it won't go off unless I say some magic word doesn't seem practical."

"It won't be able to be done right away. It's going to take a lot of repetition and mental exercises. And I mean _a lot_." Yamagori told her. "We'll be doing this for the next few training sessions, got it?"

"Yes Ms. Yamagori." Fujino nodded.

"Good. Now I want you to look straight ahead, focus on a target. And when you say the keyword you come up with, activate your Quirk right there and then."

Fujino did as she was told. She took a deep breath and began to focus. She aimed her target to be the center of the training field, where there would be the least amount of risk of damaging the building. She thought carefully about the word she wanted and finally spoke it.

"Burst!"

As the words escaped her mouth, the space around where she was aiming distortion for a brief second before a large explosion occurred.

"Good." Yamagori said. "Again."

Fujino obeyed the teacher's command. "Burst!" Once again, an explosion went off.

"Again."

"Burst!" Yet another explosion.

"Again."

"Burst!"

The repetitive exercise went on for another few minutes. But eventually, Fujino's stamina gave out and she fell to her knees to catch her breath.

"Once you've recovered for strength, we'll keep at it." Yamagori told her. "This will be your training for the rest of the week. It may not be exciting, but grin and bear it."

"Yes ma'am." Fujino said. Frankly, she didn't care how tiring and repetitive this exercise was. If it allowed her to gain control over her Quirk rather than being controlled by it, she'd do this day after day for a year if she had to.

Another hour of the training exercise went on for Fujino before Yamagori finally decided to call it a day. The teacher could only hope the training would work for Fujino the same way it had worked for her when she was younger. But in the end, only time would tell.

As Fujino went back to the lockers to change out of her jersey and into her school uniform, Yamagori and Aizawa were left to talk alone. "I noticed you didn't tell her the news we received." Aizawa spoke.

"What do you think I am? Heartless?" Yamagori asked him. "Right now, it's important she keeps a clear head while she grasps this form of training. Besides… do you want to be the one to tell her either?"

"Fair point." Aizawa admitted.

It had been earlier today that U.A had received an update on the investigation for Paradise. Based on the police's investigation and the information they had gotten from Fujino, a full investigation was finally able to be done on Paradise. They stormed the organization's main headquarters in Japan, as well as the facility Fujino had been kept in. Unfortunately, not only was the facility completely empty, the president of Paradise was nowhere to be found at the company's headquarters. There were hundreds of workers there that were caught off guard by the police's presence, and after extensive questioning none of the people there seemed to have been aware of what was going on behind the scenes.

Paradise's president Genjiro Mastsuhari, as well as a select number of other high ranking Paradise employees, were nowhere to be found. They had escaped before the police could get to them.

After digging some more into the company's files, several other secret facilities worldwide were discovered within documents. But it seemed to only be a portion of the facilities. The documents containing the rest had been deleted before the police arrived. Police agencies in several countries were informed of the situation and went to investigate Paradise's various branches in each of their countries. However, just like in Japan, the only ones left were those that had been completely unaware of what was going on.

But that wasn't the worst part.

Fujino's mother was supposed to be working at Paradise's main European branch, located in Germany. When the local authorities arrived, they were met with the same scene of everyone there being those completely ignorant to Paradise's underground work. They had expected to find Fujino's mother among them and let her know the status of her daughter.

But she was nowhere to be found. Like Genjiro Mastsuhari and the rest, she had vanished without a trace. Which meant she had likely been taken by them against her will.

Fujino had no knowledge of her mother's status right now. All she knew was what was on the news, which had been covering the massive scandal for the past few days ever since the police raided the company's headquarters. The teachers had simply been telling her that they hadn't heard word back from the investigation going on in Europe right now. But they did now. And they were dreading when it would finally be time to tell Fujino the news.

"When are you going to tell her?" Aizawa asked. "She has the right to know her mother is missing."

"I'm going to wait until after finals. Hopefully that mental rule will be engraved into her head by then. Otherwise, she's bound to lose control from the mental pain that knowledge is going to cause." Yamagori said. "What I'm more concerned about though is what she'll do with that information."

"You think she might try and hunt Paradise down?"

"She's a teenager. And an emotional one at that." Yamagori reminded him. "I just pray she makes the right call."

* * *

As finals drew closer one day at a time, Class C found themselves preparing more and more for what would likely be their biggest challenge yet. It wasn't easy, considering they had to train both body and mind for what they would be facing. But for many, Sakura's group study session helped a lot with the academics. Although Fujino was exempt from finals this time around, the extra studying helped her with catching up to where the rest of the class was at.

Finally, the day came for finals to begin. First came the three days of written exams. It was easy for some like Shinobu and Sakura, who excelled at academics. As for others like Jill and Shiro, they found what they learned during the study sessions coming in handy. Fujino spent the three days doing a mix of mock tests in the library to see where she was at, and continuing her Quirk training. It had taken a few days, but the repetitive exercises Yamagori had her doing were finally working. Even when she tried to use her Quirk on command, she found it rather difficult to do so without saying her keyword. She had been saying it with each use hundreds of times over, so she was glad it hadn't all been for nothing.

Finally, the three days of written exams were finished. The next day, it was time for the practical exam. Like the written test before, Fujino was exempt from this exam due to not being an official student yet. However, she was granted permission to observe the exam with everyone else.

All of the students gathered together in the Central Plaza. Yamagori was there along with several other teachers from various classes. Even Principal Nezu was present. The students couldn't help but feel odd about how many of them there were.

"Alright, it's time for the practical exam." Yamagori told her class. "And yes, failing this is possible, so don't do anything stupid if you want to avoid summer school hell." She looked at her students. "I'm assuming at least some of you used your heads and tried to dig up some information beforehand and got an idea on what the exam would be."

"We're fighting robots, right?" Shiro said with a grin. "Bring 'em on. I'll turn all of them into scrap metal."

"Yes, the practical exam in past years has involved fighting robots." Yamagori confirmed. She soon grew a devious smirk. "Too bad for you guys though. Cause the practical is going to be different starting this year."

"... What?" Jill said with a deadpan look in her eyes.

"From now on, we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work." Nezu explained as he stepped forward. "So we'll have you all fight in teams of two against one teacher."

Class C all gasped in shock. "Wait, so we're fighting all of you?!" Nene exclaimed.

"And don't think about trying to plan who you'll work well with ahead of time." Yamagori told them. "The teams and pairings have already been decided upon ahead of time. They were all my decision, so you can thank me for the hell you're all about to experience."

'_I've got a bad feeling about this.'_ Alicia thought to herself.

"First up, Hiryo and Majo are on a team." Yamagori told them. "You'll be against Cementoss."

Dan and Rekka glanced at each other. They had never really fought together yet so their teamwork was shaky at best. On top of that, they'd be up against an opponent with frightening defensive power. It wasn't going to be easy.

"Next up, Shinobunta and Boqu." the teacher stated, looking at Merci and Kenji. "You're up against Midnight."

"Oh lucky me." Midnight said as she licked her lips with a smirk.

Yamagori next looked at Marcus and Fiona with a devilish grin. "Cersy and Mizune, congratulations. You get to be my prey."

Marcus and Fiona both widened their eyes. The two of them were both close range fighters. Going up against someone who could paralyze them by just making eye contact would be a serious challenge.

"Akabane, and Avalon, you're fighting Power Loader." Yamagori said as she went on. "Tsuki and Yoake, you get to go against Ectoplasm. Suzuki and Cryki, the principal is all yours. Izumi and Shinito, you'll be fighting Thirteen."

"Hang on a sec." Hyde interrupted. "Teams of two means there'll be ten matches. And so far, I only count nine of you."

"Zip it Gekido, I'm getting there." Yamagori told him. "Radcliffe and Fukasa, you fight Snipe. Fukuyame and Pixi, you're opponent will be Present Mic." She then looked at the final two students in class. "And finally, Gekido and Reikon. You get the most special fight of all."

"That would be me!" a loud booming voice said as he came crashing down near the teachers. Both Hyde and Shinobu gasped in shock as they looked at who they would be fighting.

All Might.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Hyde muttered in disbelief.

"The time limit for each team is thirty minutes. During that time, you need to accomplish one of two things." Nezu explained as he brought out a pair of handcuffs. "Either put these handcuffs on a teacher, or have one of you escape from the stage."

"Wait, we're really allowed to just run away?" Fiona asked.

"Of course. But don't forget, you'll all be up against someone waaaaaaaayy better than you." Present Mic told them.

"You need to think of us as villains." Snipe said. "If you come across an enemy and think you can beat them, then fine."

"But reality is not always so kind. You'll find times where you'll encounter an enemy where the difference in ability is too great to overcome on your own." Yamagori reminded them. "In that situation, the smart thing would be to run and get help."

"Your decision-making skills will be put to the test here!" All Might said. "Of course, normally you wouldn't stand a chance against opponents like us at your level and would always opt to run away. So we're giving you all a handicap."

"What kind of handicap?" Marcus asked.

All Might reached into his pocket and brought out a metal band. "The support course created these for us! Ultra compressed weights! We'll be putting on about half our body weight. They'll make it hard for us to move and eat up stamina."

"With those on, some of us might actually stand a chance in a fight." Sarah noted to herself quietly.

"Now then, each team will take the exam in order and go to the stage prepared for them. Those waiting their turn can either watch the fights as they happen or go somewhere to discuss strategy." Yamagori said. "Bad luck for you, Hiryo and Majo. You two are first."

'_In other words, we get the least amount of time to prepare.'_ Dan realized.

"Please meet me at the city field in ten minutes." Cementoss said as he walked away.

The final exam was finally starting. And with no previous experience working together and barely any time to come up with a plan, Dan and Rekka were not off to a lucky start.

**A/N: Time to start the final exams. Who will pass and who will fail? Stay tuned readers.**


	23. Chapter 23

With the practical portion of the final exam explained, the students of Class C went in various directions to prepare themselves. Most decided to go somewhere quiet to talk strategy with their partner and discuss what they could do against the teacher they were paired up against. Others saw no possible way to discuss with their partner and simply thought of a plan themselves. The third and final option was observing the matches from a monitoring room. Not having any reason to be in the first two categories, Fujino opted to do the third.

She had seen the other members of Class C in action during hero training, so she had a decent grasp of each of their Quirks. But going up against pro heroes would be a new challenge entirely for each of them, she knew that much.

"This exam seems a little unfair, honestly." Fujino said. "I mean, you're paired up with someone else so if you get paired with someone weak then you might fail just because they can't pull their own weight."

"That is one way of looking at it." Recovery Girl told her. "However, in today's society, it is impossible to do everything on your own. And you don't always have the liberty of choosing who you partner up with in the middle of a crisis. That is why teamwork, no matter the combination, is extremely crucial. Besides, we made sure the test wouldn't be _impossible_ for students to pass."

"Guess all that's left is to see how it goes." Fujino said. She looked up at the monitor, where a video of the first battle was now showing.

An electronic voice signaled the start of the exam. "Team Hiryo and Majo, practical exam. Ready, go!"

Once they heard the buzzer, Dan and Rekka went in running. Their battlefield was a city landscape. Things would be difficult for them here. Not only did it give Cementoss plenty to work with for his Quirk, they had to be careful to keep damage to their surroundings to a minimum.

'_We didn't have much time to strategize.'_ Dan thought to himself. '_But we'll have to make it work somehow.'_

As the two students ran through the streets, they soon saw Cementoss in the distance. He was ready to face them. Placing his hand on the ground, Cementoss threw up a large wall in front of his two opponents.

"If we go charging in, Cementoss will beat us for sure." Dan said. "Neither of us has the power to deal with his defense from this distance."

"He can't move too quickly though." Rekka pointed out. "Should we try to escape?"

"That would probably be best." Dan said with a nod.

The pair turned and ran into the alleyways between the buildings near them, out of sight from Cementoss. Dan and Rekka worked their way through the thin alleyways as they began making their way to the other end of the field where the gate was. But with how tall the buildings around them were, there was no way to tell just how far they had gone, or if Cementoss was possibly closing in on them. But Cementoss's speed was rather low, so as long as they stayed hidden in the alleys, Dan figured they would be safe.

"Wait." Rekka said as she stopped running. Dan paused as well to see what was on her mind. "Do you hear something?"

Dan silently listened to his surroundings. Rekka was right. He did hear a low sound. It was… rumbling?

Dan and Rekka came to the same realization as they widened their eyes and looked down, noticing the ground beneath them shifting slightly.

"The ground!" Rekka exclaimed.

There was no time. If they wasted even a millisecond, it would possibly mean the end for them. "Sorry about this, Rekka." Dan said as he ran at her and wrapped an arm around her waist as he brought out his wings. He quickly took off into the air just as the ground beneath them shifted even more and flowed like water. Slivers from the ground shot up towards them, hoping to catch the two.

As they flew upwards, Rekka held out her hand below them and used her Quirk to create several floating embers. They detonated as the inanimate slivers came into contact with them, keeping them at bay. The small explosions shook Dan's flying control, nearly making them fall. But they managed to reach the roof of one of the buildings. Dan let go of Rekka and they both quickly caught their breath.

"That was way too close." Dan said. "Good thinking back there with using your Quirk to slow down Cementoss's Quirk. Sorry I had to get so close though."

"It's no problem! That closeness is a sign of how strong our friendship is!" Rekka told him.

"Our… friendship?"

"Of course! Since coming to U.A, I have lots of new friends now! Everyone in Class C is my friend!"

Dan couldn't recall having any major in depth conversations with Rekka. Most of the class knew she was harmless, but she always seemed rather odd at times. But perhaps all she really wanted was to make friends with everyone.

"In any case, how did Cementoss find us?" Dan asked aloud. He and Rekka walked to the edge of the roof to look down and widened their eyes at what they saw. It hadn't been just the area they were at. Most of the road and alleyways within three blocks of their location were flowing like water due to Cementoss's Quirk.

'_So he didn't know our exact location. He just estimated it based on where we fled and the time that had passed since then.'_ Dan realized. '_But still, to control his Quirk to such a degree… he's not a U.A teacher for nothing.'_

Not wanting to be in view of Cementoss if he looked up at them, Dan and Rekka moved back and kneeled down to stay out of sight. They were in a bind. There was no way they could go from roof to roof without being seen. On top of that, the ground below them was no longer safe either.

"So what do we do?" Dan questioned. "At this rate, there's no way for us to avoid a confrontation."

Rekka tilted her head. "Why not just do what we did before?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"We got away last time with you flying and me holding off Cementoss's Quirk. We can just do it again as we make our way to the goal."

Dan rubbed the back of his head. "I guess, but my control on it is pretty shaky, and that's without carrying someone with me. Between that and all the bursts from your embers, there's a good chance I could lose control and both of us would fall."

"That won't happen. I know it." Rekka told him. "Our strong bond of friendship will win the day and see us through to victory!"

'_She's still going on about friendship, huh?'_ Dan thought. But she really did have a lot of faith in him. He'd be lying if he didn't feel at least a little happy about that. "Alright then. If you're really ok with it, let's give it a shot."

Cementoss stayed put on the ground as he waited for any developments. '_Those two… I wonder if they got away. I know I had their general location pegged down. But they couldn't have escaped without me noticing yet. Then why haven't they made a move?'_

The wait finally ended when Cementoss saw a figure flying off the rooftop of a nearby building. He quickly discerned it to be Dan and Rekka. Keeping his hand on the road, Cementoss sent a series of tendrils made from the road up at the two students.

"Incoming!" Dan warned.

"Leave it to me." Rekka grinned. She created embers from her hands as they flew, forming a protective barrier in their wake. As the tendrils came into contact with them, they detonated. The shockwaves from them were small, but Dan could still feel them due to how close they were. Each impact shook him and forced him to descend more and more. But at the rate things were going, they would still be able to make it to the goal, which was in sight.

"As if I would make it that easy." Cementoss said to himself.

Dan looked back when he noticed the shockwaves were no longer happening. The tendrils from the road that Cementoss had been using were no longer moving. "Did we get past the range of his Quirk?"

Looking ahead of them, Rekka gasped. "Look out!"

Dan took a look ahead of them after hearing Rekka's warning and widened his eyes. A large wave of road was forming up ahead of them, cutting off their path. Dan quickly tried to fly to the side and go around it, but it was curving and cutting them off from there too. Dan and Rekka soon realized that Cementoss was attempting to trap them within one giant dome made from the road.

"Not good!" Dan exclaimed.

"There's only one option now!" Rekka told him. "Charge at Cementoss!"

"What?!"

"We have to! It's our only chance!"

Dan wanted to argue, but he knew Rekka was right. Escape wasn't going to be possible at this rate. They had to confront Cementoss directly now. Dan turned around and flew directly towards their opponent. With the speed they were going at, they would just barely make it before the dome closed up on them.

"Throw me at him!" Rekka told her partner.

"What?!" Dan exclaimed.

"Trust me! We're friends and friends trust each other!" Rekka said. "Throw me, then try to escape straight up and go for the gate!"

Dan had no idea what Rekka was thinking, turning herself into a human rocket when he was the only thing allowing them to move around in the air. But if Rekka had a plan to get them out of this jam, then who was he to argue.

Dan shifted the propulsion of the vapor from his wings so it spun him around like a tornado. They began to descend due to the vapor being aimed more horizontally than vertically, but the rapid spinning began to gain in speed. Once he felt there was enough momentum, Dan threw Rekka with all his might directly at Cementoss. After he did, he took a brief moment to steady himself out and shake the dizziness from his head before flying upwards before the dome could close on him. His speed and control were a bit better now that he wasn't carrying Rekka around.

Cementoss widened his eyes as he saw their maneuver. Controlling such a large area with his Quirk was taking most of his concentration. He couldn't effectively protect himself from Rekka's incoming attack while trying to seal up Dan. He either had to try and stop Dan from getting to the goal and struggle with holding off Rekka, or focus everything on keeping Rekka from getting to him and let Dan escape.

'_Clever move.'_ Cementoss thought. '_Hiryo lacked the power to break through my defense, and Rekka couldn't use her Quirk to the fullest with her partner right next to her. This was supposed to be their challenge, but they managed to find a way around it. But I still won't let myself go down so easily.'_

Cementoss put up a short wall between himself and Rekka, about 3 meters tall. But Rekka wasn't about to let herself simply crash into it. Moving her hands, Rekka created a pair of embers in front of her. She came into contact with them almost instantly, detonating them. The small shockwaves and their positioning allowed her to propel herself upwards and over the wall. Cementoss gasped at seeing the girl evade his barrier and land inches from him.

'_My suit can take the hot temperatures of my embers. I realized I could use them like this after watching Bakugo in the Sports festival.'_ Rekka quickly brought out the handcuffs and attached them to Cementoss before he could stop her.

"Yahoo!" Rekka cheered. "Nothing can defeat the power of friendship!"

A buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the test. "Team Hiryo and Majo have passed!"

With the exam over for them, Dan flew over to Cementoss and Rekka. Once he landed, Rekka lunged at her partner and gave him a big hug.

"We did it! This is the result of our immense friendship!"

"Okay! I get it! But can you back up a little! Personal space!" Dan told her. "Rekka, are you even listening?!"

* * *

With the first team done, the final exam proceeded onto the second match. This one would feature Kenji and Merci against Midnight. The two of them were complete opposites in terms of personality. Kenji was a quiet and reserved person who tended to vanish without a single person noticing. Merci on the other hand was flashy and loved to talk even when it wasn't wanted.

Finally the buzzer sounded. "Team Boqu and Shinobunta, practical exam. Ready, go!"

Merci and Kenji wasted no time in moving out as they entered the field. Fujino and Recovery Girl had a perfect view of the exam from the monitoring room. They were soon joined by Dan and Rekka as the pair entered the room.

"Seems the next exam already started." Dan said, looking up at the screen.

"That was a pretty reckless stunt you two pulled at the end of your exam." Fujino commented.

"To be honest, we had to get reckless there." Dan admitted. "If that stunt Rekka came up with failed, we were pretty much screwed."

"I knew it would work in the end." Rekka grinned. "The power of friendship is unstoppable."

Dan looked up at the screen to watch the second pair in the middle of their exam. "Well we passed. Now we just need to hope the others pass too. Though this is going to be pretty tough for those two."

"Why's that?" Fujino asked.

"Oh right, you wouldn't know." Dan realized. "Midnight's Quirk secretes a fragrance from her body that makes people fall asleep. And it's rumored to work better on boys than girls."

"Yeah, but Kenji can just escape into the shadows with his Quirk, can't he?" Rekka pointed out.

"Yes, but he can't travel outside of shadows without leaving them. If he hides in a shadow, that's just going to give Midnight a chance to cover the area even more. Then he'll succumb to it the second he leaves. And if he waits too long the clock will run out." Dan explained. "And as for Merci, he can fight mid range with his flower whips, but Midnight's weapon is also a whip, and she's got a lot more combat experience than he does. One wrong move and he'll be finished."

"So basically his Quirk is useless." Fujino realized. "That's some really bad luck."

"I don't think it's luck." Dan said. "In our exam, Rekka and I were both put up against an opponent that we had a disadvantage against. The same is true in this case."

"So they're purposely giving us matchups that put us at a disadvantage?" Rekka questioned.

"Most likely." Dan nodded.

"You're exactly right." Recovery Girl confirmed from her seat. "It's to see how you all will manage to overcome your weaknesses in order to pass."

"That's pretty harsh." Fujino commented.

Up on the screen, the exam continued for Kenji and Merci. Unlike the urban landscape Dan and Rekka had been in, this one was a rocky area, likely modeled to be similar to a mountain or wasteland. They cautiously made their way forward, making sure to be careful for any surprise attack by Midnight.

"Any sign of her yet?" Kenji asked.

"No, but do not worry, monsieur Kenji." Merci said. "Midnight is a woman of entrancing beauty. My senses, capable of finding all things beautiful, will tell me when she is nearby." He took a whiff in with his nose. "Ah yes, I can smell her now."

Kenji narrowed his eyes. "Wait, you do?" His eyes widened when he noticed the faint trace of an odd fragrance enter his nostrils as well. Acting on pure instinct, Kenji quickly dashed away. His mask covering his mouth and nose helped him get away just before he could inhale enough of the sweet smelling aroma. He turned around to see Merci collapse with a smile on his face as Midnight emerged from behind a rock.

"My, my, someone has sharp reflexes." Midnight said with a smirk. "But your partner is out of commission. What will you do now?"

Kenji made sure to keep a safe distance from Midnight, not wanting to fall victim to her Quirk. He was at a complete disadvantage. Most of his combat arsenal consisted of martial arts, but that was useless against someone like Midnight. His only chance was to get out through the exit gate, but Midnight was blocking his path to it.

From the monitoring room, Dan rubbed the back of his head. "Well Merci's out. This just got a lot tougher for Kenji."

Kenji slowly backed away as Midnight approached him. It was putting him further and further away from the goal. He knew he couldn't afford to let that happen. Finally, his eyes caught sight of a certain spot. To Midnight's surprise, Kenji sped directly towards her.

"Oh, you're coming to me then? Planning to hold your breath long enough to get past me I assume?" Midnight guessed. She cracked her whip before sending it his way. "I don't dislike that straightforwardness from a man, but I'm afraid it won't work."

Kneji managed to just barely avoid Midnight's whip as he held his breath to avoid breathing in the aroma of Midnight's Quirk. He lunged to the shadow of a nearby rock and dove into it.

Midnight narrowed her eyes, wondering what Kenji's plan was. Did he plan to move from shadow to shadow while holding his breath, letting him catch his breath while inside the shadow? He had to know that Midnight was more than experienced enough to stop that sort of plan. Then what was he thinking? As she tried to figure out his strategy, her eyes caught sight of multiple small orbs scattered near the shadow Kenji went into. She gasped, realizing what the orbs were, but it was too late. They burst and smoke flooded out from them.

'_Smoke bombs!'_ Midnight thought as she covered her mouth to avoid inhaling the smoke. But it wasn't a smokescreen Kenji was going for. The explosion of the smoke bombs blew the aroma from Midnight's Quirk away from the area of the shadow.

Almost immediately after they detonated, Kenji emerged from the shadow. With Midnight's Quirk not in effect in the small area around him for a few brief moments, now was his chance to slip past her. Midnight attempted to catch him with her whip, but missed her strike due to the smoke lowering her visibility.

"Damnit." Midnight cursed. "He got me."

"That crafty ninja did it! He found a way to get past Midnight!" Dan exclaimed.

Between Kenji's agility and Midnight having the weights on her, there was no catching up with him. Kenji passed through the gate and a voice sounded.

"Team Boqu and Shinobunta have passed!"

Rekka showed a big smile. "Yay! They did it!"

"Except Kenji basically did all the actual work." Dan noted. "I'm not sure how that'll reflect for Merci."

"If he actually got his head out of the clouds, he might have actually noticed his opponent coming in time." Fujino commented.

* * *

The third match of the practical exam featured Marcus and Fiona against their homeroom teacher Yamagori. Their setting was in an urban neighborhood, filled with houses, and telephone lines along the sides of the streets.

Both Marcus and Fiona knew their chances of taking their teacher on in a fight and winning were slim. The second she made eye contact with them, it would be over. Their best option would be to try and escape out the exit gate.

"Man, this sucks." Fiona said as they snuck through the alleyways. "We won't even be able to prepare ourselves once Ms. Yamagori is in sight. She'll paralyze us the second we see her."

"Can't argue with you there." Marcus agreed. "For now, we just need to try and sneak our way as close to the gate as possible. Once we do, we'll both make a mad dash for it and try to avoid her getting both of us."

Fiona nodded as she followed Marcus through the alley. Marcus peeked his head out to check if the coast was clear before the two of them ran down a nearby road. While both of them were at a disadvantage against their homeroom teacher, being close-range fighters, Fiona was at the bigger disadvantage between the two of them. She could use her fins as blades on her arms, but only as long as they stayed wet. And with there not seeming to be a single body of water on the field, she was forced to rely only on the water she had on her.

As the two classmates ran, both of them couldn't help but feel on edge. They had yet to even spot their homeroom teacher. And knowing her, it wasn't due to a lack of skill on her part. She had something planned and they had no way to know what it was.

Silence was beginning to gnaw at the nerves for Marcus and Fiona, so Fiona decided to speak up with a question that had been on her mind. "Come to think of it, I've never seen Ms. Yamagori's hero costume. Have you?"

"Not really." Marcus said.

"I wonder what it's- Woah!" Fiona was cut off as she felt something wrap around her right ankle and tug at it, making her fall over. When she tried to get up, she quickly found herself turned over. She gasped when she saw the one pinning her down was none other than their opponent for the exam. Not even having the time to think, one look at her teacher's eyes caused her entire body to go numb.

'_Crap! I looked into her eyes!'_

"Fiona!" Marcus gasped as he turned and saw his partner down. He barely managed to take his gaze away from his teacher's face before she could turn to look at him and make eye contact.

Rather than the light brown dress she usually wore when teaching in the classroom, Yamagori was now wearing her hero costume, which consisted of a pale violet outfit with white trim. Marcus didn't dare look further than the neck, but on Yamagori's head were a pair of goggles with a yellow frame and a black strap wrapping it around her head. In her hands was a green whip, the weapon she had used to cause Fiona to trip just now.

Marcus felt himself sweat. Whatever happened, he couldn't let himself look into Yamagori's eyes. Normally the best option would be to escape as quickly as possible. But he couldn't afford to leave Fiona like this. If he did, then he would be completely on his own.

"I'm glad to see you have the common sense to avoid looking at my eyes at least, Cersy." Yamagori said as she got up off of Fiona. "But what will you do now? Do you think you can fight me while avoiding my eyes?"

"Guess we'll find out." Marcus said.

"I guess we will." Yamagori smirked.

The fight began quickly as Yamagori sped at Marcus. She moved side to side in a smooth fashion, similar to a serpent, making her movements hard to follow. Yamagori bent her knees and lowered her body, attempting to get her eyes low enough to lock with Marcus's gaze. Marcus saw what she was doing just in time and closed his eyes to avoid getting paralyzed.

"Closing your eyes may make me unable to use my Quirk on you. However..." Yamagori told her student as she moved in and sent a swift punch to his gut. "It's a double edged sword for you!"

Marcus felt the air rush out of his lungs from the punch. But he stood his ground and attempted to hit his teacher with a counter. Yamagori easily dodged it however and delivered a swift uppercut to his jaw, knocking Marcus off his feet and making his back slam onto the ground. He still kept his eyes closed, not daring to risk getting parlyzed. He shifted his arms into wyvern talons with his Quirk. He had to stay calm. He couldn't use his eyes so he had to try and sense his opponent with his ears.

Yamagori had little difficulty telling what Marcus was up to. "Using your ears over your sight. It's not a bad strategy, Cersy." she told him. "But can your ears pick up on this?" With a flick of her wrist, she attacked with her whip, striking Marcus's cheek.

Marcus flinched from the stinging pain. With the whip being such a long weapon, it allowed Yamagori to attack safely from a distance. And its flexibility made it difficult for Marcus to track with his eyes closed. Lash after lash struck him as Marcus put his arms up to go on the defensive.

'_If he's trying to stall for time for my Quirk to wear off from Mizune, he must be pretty desperate.'_ Yamagori thought. '_The paralysis effect can last up to five minutes. It'd be less if I used it on multiple people in a short stretch of time, but the only one I've used it on is Mizune. And it's barely been one minute since then. He can't hold out for another four minutes like this.'_

As Marcus tried to endure the pain from the barrage of lashes from Yamagori's whip, he did his best to concentrate. Yamagori had the advantage here, but she had made one mistake. She had spoken to him, letting him get a read on her position with his ears. And he hadn't heard any footsteps to suggest she moved since then. Trying his best to recall the picture of his surroundings and how much he had moved since then, Marcus made a mental landscape in his head. It wasn't very detailed, but it would have to do.

'_Here goes nothing.'_

Kicking off the ground, Marcus lunged forward, bringing out his wings to give him a burst of speed. Yamagori quickly evaded the attack, but she soon realized he hadn't been aiming for her. Marcus stopped right near Fiona and opened his eyes briefly to see her exact position. He grabbed his partner and flapped his wings to take off before Yamagori could move on them.

'_Trying to escape, huh? Not on my watch.'_ Yamagori thought to herself as she attacked with her whip once again. The whip struck Marcus's back, but he managed to endure the pain and take off into the air, out of the range of Yamagori's weapon.

Marcus flew as fast as he could, making his way to the exit gate with Fiona in tow. However, his mobility was far from perfect. Between the damage he had taken so far and the fact that he had to carry the weight of another person, he couldn't fly as fast or as far without landing. Deciding to use the terrain to his advantage, he used the roofs of the houses as landing spots, jumping off and flying as far as he could before landing on another and doing the same thing over again. But it wasn't long before he could hear Yamagori hot on their trail, running down the streets below. And from the sound of the footsteps getting louder, she was catching up to them.

From the monitoring room, Fujino and the others watched the match go on. Yamagori used her whip to hook around a telephone pole and used it to pull herself up to the rooftops in an instant. She was then running along the roofs right after Marcus. Sensing the danger closing in, Marcus took a detour and moved to the side rather than making a beeline for the gate. The students watched as the exam quickly turned into a high stakes game of tag.

"We haven't seen her in action that many times, but Ms. Yamagori's a serious badass, isn't she?" Dan said. "She's not giving Marcus any chance to escape."

"Her hero name was Medusa due to more than just her Quirk." Recovery Girl explained to them. "The way she moves in a fight. It was constantly compared to a snake."

"I can see why." Kenji noted.

Back at the urban training field, Marcus continued to do his best to evade his teacher's pursuit. But no matter what he did, he couldn't manage to lose her.

Finally, Fiona spoke to her partner. "Marcus…"

Marcus looked at his partner and nodded, knowing what she meant. He jumped to the next roof and gently put her down before taking off.

'_So in the end he decided to give up on his partner in order to escape. It's a tough choice, but sometimes you have to make a sacrifice in order to avoid total failure.'_ Yamagori thought to herself, ignoring the paralyzed Fiona in order to go after Marcus.

As Yamagori passed by her, Fiona showed a small smirk. She quickly got up, showing she was no longer under the effect of Yamagori's Quirk and ran at her teacher from behind with the handcuffs in her possession. She would capture Yamagori from behind with a surprise attack.

But Yamagori wasn't someone who could be fooled that easily.

Yamagori quickly turned and grabbed Fiona by the arm before the female student could cuff her. "Nice try. But I'm not that dumb."

Fiona kept her gaze down to avoid locking eyes with her teacher. Now was the moment of truth. "Didn't think you were, Ms. Yamagori."

Using her free hand, Fiona threw the handcuffs up into the air. With the momentary distraction from Yamagori looking up at the cuffs, Fiona used a sweep kick to knock her teacher off balance and grab her from behind, restraining her.

"Marcus, now!"

"Already on it!" Marcus said as he came flying down from above, grabbing the cuffs midair. He landed and hooked the cuffs to Yamagori's wrist, all in one swift motion.

With Yamagori captured, a buzzer was heard throughout the field. "Team Cersy and Mizune have passed."

"Woohoo!" Fiona cheered. "We did it!"

Yamagori let out a sigh. "So you planned for me to realize Mizune wasn't paralyzed anymore."

"Fiona actually came up with most of it." Marcus admitted. "She figured it was best to have a plan in case one of us got hit by your Quirk before our original plan of splitting up when we neared the gate. If she was the one, I had to grab her and take off until she could move. Then I place her down with you thinking she was still paralyzed and she gets you from behind."

"Marcus thought up the backup plan though in case you saw through the ruse." Fiona added. "With him able to fly, all I had to do was keep you from moving while he grabbed the cuffs and got you."

Yamagori cracked a small grin. Her students were learning one of the most important lessons she kept trying to impart to them. Nothing in life ever goes exactly as you expect. Always have a backup plan. "Not bad you two. Not bad at all."

**A/N: Three matches down, seven to go. How will things progress from here? you'll have to wait and find out.**


	24. Chapter 24

So far, three teams from Class 1-C had taken the practical portion of the final exam. There were still seven exams left to go through. And for those in the monitoring room watching, it was clear just how difficult this exam was. Each team was purposely put into a disadvantageous situation, using some method to exploit a weakness of theirs.

Marcus and Fiona, having just passed their exam, walked into the monitoring room where the other two teams that had already finished were waiting, as well as Fujino and Recovery Girl. "Hey everybody." Fiona greeted.

"Hey you two." Dan said. "We watched your exam. Awesome job."

"Thanks." Marcus said. "It was really close though. Having Ms. Yamagori as our opponent really put us at a disadvantage."

"That seems to be a trend going with all the exams so far." Fujino explained.

"It's to test our bonds of friendship!" Rekka said.

"If only it were that easy. It's to see how we deal with our weaknesses." Kenta clarified.

"I don't envy the others then." Marcus said. "So who's up now?"

"Sakura and Hikari. They're in the middle of their exam right now." Dan told them, pointing up to the screen that gave them a video feed of the exam.

The field Sakura and Hikari were in was a mountainous industrial site. They had managed to get near the escape gate, but their path to it was filled with unstable terrain. Pitfalls were all over the place, created by the Quirk of their opponent Power Loader.

"What do we do?" Hikari asked.

"I'm not sure." Sakura said. "We could try traversing slowly and carefully, but there's no way Power Loader would sit idly by and let us."

As the two girls continued to think, they saw more pieces of the terrain crumble into holes. The number of places they had to stand was rapidly diminishing. They couldn't afford to waste any time. Sakura desperately looked around for anything they could use to get across safely. Her eyes caught sight of a truck with a crane lifted up tall and an idea crossed her mind.

"I've got it!"

"You have an idea?" Hikari asked. "What is it?"

Sakura held her left arm out. Using her Quirk, she manipulated the plants she had as part of her costume. One of them included a thick vine. She shot it out and had it wrap around the end of the crane with the other end still attached to her costume.

"We can't get across with a regular jump." Sakura said. "But if I shoot you from here, you should be able to make it. Think you'll be able to do it?"

Hikari gave her partner a thumbs up. "Hey, cats always land on their feet, don't they? This'll be no problem for me."

Sakura used the rest of the plants at her disposal on her costume to root herself into the ground. Once she was ready, Hikari pushed herself as far back as she could with the makeshift slingshot. It was a tricky angle, so Sakura eyeballed the trajectory and assisted her partner with how far back and to the side she needed to go. Soon, they were both ready.

"Go for it!" Sakura called out, struggling to keep herself rooted.

Hikari nodded and let the vine shoot her up into the air. Sakura watched as Hikari flew through the air, praying their plan would work. With Power Loader digging underground, they had practically no chance of capturing him so escape was their only option. And if this failed, their chances of success were far from good.

As she neared the ground, Hikari braced herself. She just prayed a pitfall wasn't awaiting her right by the gate. She landed with a roll and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't feel the ground crumble underneath her feet. Lunging through the escape gate, Hikari exited the field and a buzzer sounded.

"Team Avalon and Akabane have passed."

Hearing the announcement, Sakura and Hikari both celebrated their victory as they jumped into the air with joy in their hearts. Hikari ran back over to her partner. "We did it Sakura!"

"Wait Hikari!" Sakura called out. "The field's still-"

The rest of Sakura's words died on her tongue as she watched Hikari fall right into a pitfall trap. The blonde girl groaned as she laid at the bottom of the hole. "Right. Forgot these were still here."

* * *

The fourth exam consisted of Alicia and Lilina up against Ectoplasm. The setting for their exam was the inside of a building filled with various halls and such to form a complex maze. There was no way for them to tell the exact way to go in order to reach the exit gate.

"Ready to rock, Alicia?" Lilina asked.

"Yeah." Alicia nodded. "Let's do this."

Soon the signal to start the exam sounded for the two girls. "Team Tsuki and Yoake, practical exam. Ready, go!"

Alicia and Lilina were about to start moving right at the start, but the second the announcement finished, a mist covered the area around them. Within seconds, the two girls were surrounded by clones of Ectoplasm. The two female students stood back to back as they looked at all of the clones.

"You should know, we teachers will be trying to crush you with everything we have." Ectoplasm told them. "So you'd best show how determined you are to win."

"You won't have to worry about that, we're plenty determined." Alicia said.

"It's nice that we're fighting a bunch of clones." Lilina said as she touched her gauntlets and changed them to a solid carbon alloy. "Cause I don't have to worry about hitting too hard now."

"Let's see if you're still saying that when this is over." Ectoplasm said as the clones all rushed at the two of them.

Alicia and Lilina sprung right into action, meeting Ectoplasm's challenge head on. Alicia fired off blasts of sunlight from her fingertips, piercing any clones near her. As they hit, the clones dissolved and vanished. Lilina was also busy dealing with the multitude of clones, hitting each one with powerful punches that took them out in one hit. With carbon being one of the hardest materials she could make, her gauntlets were currently at their strongest level of offensive power. Normally, this would cause her punches to risk shattering bones on impact, but since she was merely fighting clones right now she didn't need to worry about that.

Barely ten seconds passed before Alicia and Lilina took out all of the clones around them. But before they could celebrate their victory, another group of clones appeared around them, practically double the previous number.

"Ok… this could be a problem." Lilina said.

"We can't just stick around fighting these things." Alicia told her partner. "We'll only tire ourselves out."

"Agreed." Lilina nodded. She took notice of a corridor through some of the clones that led out of the room they were in. The two girls glanced at each other and both gave a silent nod of agreement.

Not wasting any more time, Alicia and Lilina rushed to the corridor. Alicia fired off a few blasts with her Quirk to thin out the clones blocking their way. The few that were left were taken care of by Lilina as she took them out with a couple of punches. Once they were free, they ran out of the room and began hurrying to find the exit gate.

As they ran and searched, Alicia and Lilina found clones of Ectoplasm getting in their way at every turn. Each time, they managed to deal with them and continue on, but each battle drained away their stamina bit by bit.

At the exit gate for the field, the real Ectoplasm stood and waited for the two students. He could sense that many of his clones had already fallen, but from that he was able to get a sense of where Alicia and Lilina were.

'_Both of them have powerful offensive Quirks. But they have their limits.'_ Ectoplasm thought to himself. '_Tsuki needs to be in contact with sunlight to recharge her Quirk. But in an enclosed indoor place like this, she can't do that, meaning her reserves are limited. Yoake's Quirk on the other hand doesn't suffer from such a weakness, but the effect of her Quirk only lasts a short while before she has to use it again. And each use saps away stamina for her. In a drawn out fight like this where they're forced to keep using their Quirks, they're at a clear disadvantage. Now how will they deal with that?'_

About ten minutes passed as Alicia and Lilina fought their way through Ectoplasm's onslaught of clones while moving through the maze-like field. Finally, the two of them arrived near the exit gate. But they wouldn't be able to pass through it without getting through Ectoplasm himself.

"Not bad. You kept the usage of your Quirks until this point to a minimum." Ectoplasm told them. "However, will you be able to deal with this?" Spewing out a fog from his mouth, Ectoplasm created a clone of himself unlike any of the others they had seen before. This one was huge, practically the height of the room itself.

"Holy crap! I didn't know Ectoplasm could do _this_!" Alicia exclaimed.

"Admire it later! We need to move!" Lilina warned.

The giant clone came down at the two of them. Alicia and Lilina quickly dodged, lunging to the side in opposite directions. The clone was massive, but there was only one of it. If they went in different directions, it couldn't chase both of them. Alicia seemed to be the victim it chose as it turned in her direction.

"Bad choice." Alicia smirked as she skidded to a halt. She held out her hands and gathered a large amount of sunlight stored in her body, concentrating it all into one powerful blast. "Take this! Solar Cannon!"

Firing all the energy at once, a large beam of light shot from Alicia's palms. It hit the large clone of Ectoplasm. But rather than destroying it like she had expected, it only knocked it back slightly. The black haired girl gasped in shock.

"No way…"

Meanwhile, Lilina made a breakneck run for the escape gate. Standing in her way however was Ectoplasm. Not a clone, but his real body.

Lilina changed the material of her gauntlets to iron in order to avoid hurting the teacher too much. With Alicia keeping Ecoplasm's clone busy, it was up to her to make it through the escape gate. Passing the exam rested entirely on her shoulders now.

Ectoplasm began the fight with a kick from his left leg. Lilina ducked under the kick as the prosthetic leg of her opponent flew over her head. She went in with a punch, but to her surprise Ectoplasm managed to dodge it. His left leg hit the floor and he spun on it to deliver a kick right to Lilina's gut, knocking her back.

"Damn, he's not a pro for nothing." Lilina muttered to herself as she endured the pain from the kick. "But I'm not giving up that easily!"

Lilina ran towards Ectoplasm and the fight between them continued. It quickly became an exchange of blows, with neither one managing to land a solid hit in. Lilina was thankful that she had interned with a hero that specialized in hand to hand combat, helping her hone her combat skills over the week. It was due to that that she was able to fight toe to toe with Ectoplasm like this. But she could tell that she was slowly losing ground in the fight.

As Lilina battled against Ectoplasm, Alicia found herself backed into a corner against Ectoplasm's clone. She was low on sunlight, having already used a lot so far in the exam. And none of her blasts so far had been enough to defeat the giant clone. And now she had nowhere to run. The clone of Ectoplasm came down at her, engulfing her entirely. The next thing Alicia knew, she was immobilized, stuck to the clone.

Looking over, Lilina gasped when she saw her partner. "Alicia- oof!" The red-haired girl was cut off when she was hit by Ectoplasm.

"Do you really think you can afford to be distracted right now?" Ectoplasm asked.

The situation was growing worse by the minute. Alicia was trapped, and Lilina couldn't take Ectoplasm in a fight. Her Quirk only allowed her to change the elemental property of objects. Even if she transformed Ectoplasm's cloak to something heavy, he would simply remove it, slowing him down for a second at best. What else was there that she could change?

And then it hit her.

'_That's it! That might just work!'_ Lilina thought. A grin came to her lips as she brought her fists up. '_Here goes nothing.'_

"You're in no position to smile!" Ectoplasm told the girl as he sped at her. He swung his leg at her for yet another kick.

To his surprise however, Lilina made no attempt to dodge. Instead, she brought one of her arms up to block the blow. As the kick slammed against her, Lilina dug her feet and stood tall, grabbing Ectoplasm's prosthetic leg with her free hand before he could pull it back.

"I disagree." Lilina said. She quickly used her Quirk and the prosthetic leg in her grip began to change. She forced Ectoplasm's leg back, causing the teacher to stumble slightly. When his leg hit the ground, part of it snapped off.

Ectoplasm gasped as he lost his balance and fell over. "What?!"

"Fun fact about silicon. It's a very brittle material." Lilina explained. "Doesn't take much force for it to break apart if it's not at super hot temperatures." Not wasting any more time, she ran past Ectoplasm, who now was unable to even stand up. "Don't hate me for this. You tried to exploit our weaknesses. I'm just doing the same."

Ectoplasm watched Lilina run through the gate and sighed. '_That girl's more clever than she lets on. Though I wish she had gone with a method that didn't involve destroying my leg. It's not easy to get it fixed on a teacher's salary.'_

Soon a buzzer was heard and an announcement sounded. "Team Tsuki and Yoake have passed."

With the exam over, Ectoplasm released his clone, freeing Alicia. The two female students ran to each other and shared a high five. "That was awesome, Lilina." Alicia said.

"Heh, well I wouldn't have been able to do it if you hadn't kept his clone busy as long as you did." Lilina told her.

"Congratulations, you two." Ectoplasm told them. "You both soundly defeated me."

Alicia and Lilina looked at each other, grinning happily at passing the exam.

* * *

Ten minutes after Alicia and Lilina's exam had ended, the next exam began. This one featured Shiro and Jill. Their opponent was Principal Nezu. Those in the monitoring room watched as it started. The field Shiro and Jill found themselves in was a vast industrial area that resembled a factory plant.

"Is the principal really up for the task of combat?" Fujino asked. "His Quirk is just a rodent-type mutant Quirk, isn't it?"

"Not exactly." Recovery Girl explained. "You see, he was a rodent from the start. He ended up being experimented on, giving him a Quirk that makes him extremely intelligent."

Fujino widened her eyes. "He was… experimented on?"

"I don't know much of the details. As I'm sure you can imagine, it's not something he likes to talk about."

Fujino knew all too well how much the principal probably didn't wish to talk about whatever horrible experiences he must have gone through. Even she preferred not to discuss the details of her time in Paradise's facility. Talking brought those memories to the surface of the mind, bringing all the pain and trauma of them with it. She recalled when she first met Nezu and he spoke of going through a situation similar to hers. Now she realized just what he was referring to back then.

The group continued to watch the exam for Shiro and Jill. They walked through the plant, doing their best to stay hidden. But Nezu had yet to make a move. A full ten minutes passed by as the duo walked through the field.

And then all hell broke loose.

Out of nowhere, part of a building collapsed right in front of the two students. They turned and ran, realizing Nezu's assault had begun. At each and every turn, Shiro and Jill found themselves attacked by falling debris, all of which was caused by Nezu, sitting a safe distance away on an industrial crane, knocking things around and causing a chain reaction.

"Geez, I never knew the principal could be so… ruthless." Dan commented.

"He's not attacking indiscriminately either. Each of his attacks are slowly blocking off their routes to the escape gate." Kenji noted.

Things slowly got worse for Shiro and Jill. Before long, the two ended up under a mountain of wreckage. Finally, the buzzer sounded for the thirty minute mark. "Team Cryki and Suzuki retires due to running out of time."

"Tough break." Marcus said.

"The weakness he exploited was the fact that they tend to act without thinking. With how smart the principal is, they couldn't win without a solid plan and being able to adapt quickly." Fiona realized.

"So which team is next?" Rekka asked.

"Daiki and Satoshi, I believe." Marcus said. "I hope they do better than those two just did."

Six teams had finished the final exam. Now only four remained. And it was impossible to tell if there would be anymore failures among the class. All they could do was hope.

**A/N: Only four matches left in the final exam arc. Plenty more to come so look forward to it. Also, sorry for the posting and reposting of this chapter. The site was giving me issues with it.**


End file.
